Gold Plating and Silver Lining
by Butterfly Chikage
Summary: Shinraikai Academy is a brand new hero school, open to all high schoolers aiming to be a legendary hero-but it also has a secret reform program for troubled children! As the two classes come to a head, the students with a gold plating and the students on a silver lining will have to learn to work together to defeat the villains Shinraikai has attracted! SYOC CLOSED
1. Prologue I

**Prologue I**

* * *

"_**You…!**_"

"_Aw, I was hoping you wouldn't find me…"_

"_**Why?!**_ _Why would you do such a thing?! I thought…I thought you wanted to be a __**hero**__! Didn't we promise that we'd do it together?!"_

"_**Hero?! What do you mean, hero?! What a fucking joke—**_**look at me! **_**Just look at me, **_**look at what I've become already!** _Don't you get it? It's too late for me already—!"_

"_**It's not!**_ _It's not too late, it's never too late to turn back, so please…please, you don't have to do this…just come back to us, come back to _me, _**everything will be okay**_—_!"_

"**You're a fucking riot! **_**Nothing**_ **will ever be okay as long as the society remains this way…**_**but I'll change it, and I'll **_**make **_**it okay.**_"

"**NO—!**"

"**Sorry. You tried your best, but it's too late for me now.**"

_**BANG!**_

* * *

_Click. Click. Click._

The sound of footsteps echoed chaotically against the walls, piercing through the permanent, shrill silence that had the entire building engulfed in its suffocating grasp. The hallway was as icy and unforgiving as he remembered it, holding nothing but ugly metal surfaces in all directions along with the overwhelming smell of rusting iron.

Renjou Hijiri _hated_ every inch of it.

"Here you are, sir."

There was a click followed by a long, ugly creak of metal as the door inched open, moving as if it was awakening from hibernation. A dim spotlight automatically flickered on inside, highlighting the lone figure seated in the empty room. Hijiri released a breath, hoping that he let out whatever tension and anger he had with it. He had to be controlled.

_The kid needed him, after all_.

Hijiri gave the warden a pointed glare and waited until the door was slammed shut again to make his way across the room, taking the seat at the metal table in the center of the room wordlessly. The silence of the holding cell was even more unbearable compared to that of the corridors, and Hijiri took another moment to collect himself and examine the state of the fifteen-year-old child seated in front of him.

The more he looked, the more he could feel his heart break.

Kannou Mitsuki appeared to be more and more worn out with every visit. He was still so young, and yet he always appeared as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was ghastly pale, accentuating the darkness and trauma in his gold eyes that was as clear as day. His expression was always so, so carefully blank when Hijiri first entered. And then he looked up at Hijiri with wide eyes and, _every single time_, whispered quietly in clear surprise, "You came back."

_He was going to get the kid out of here,_ Hijiri promised himself_._

"Of course I did. I did promise, didn't I?"

Hijiri's voice didn't tremble or waver in the slightest, and he mentally applauded himself for it. He couldn't waver here, he had to be strong. _For Mitsuki's sake._

Mitsuki didn't respond, his gold eyes lowering to the table. His nod was clearly more out of habit than of actual trust, and Hijiri very carefully looked past it.

"How was your week? They haven't been treating you too horribly, have they?"

Mitsuki shook his head without hesitation.

(It was an obviously conditioned lie).

Hijiri let out another breath and naturally put on a casual, only slightly forced smile. "All right. Oh, that's right, did I ever tell you? Haruko and I have decided to open up a hero school." For a moment, there was no response. Then the boy gave a sharp bob of his head to show that he had heard, and Hijiri reluctantly accepted that as his cue to keep talking. "And Haruko probably is going to have my head for this, but I've pulled some strings and figured some things out, and—well, might as well get right to it. Mitsuki, how would you feel about being a hero?"

Mitsuki startled something violent at that, confusion clear in his eyes. "_Me?_ I-I can't be a hero."

"Why is that?"

Mitsuki was looking at him like he was asking a trick question. "I'm a monster, all I ever do is hurt people. I can't be a hero."

There was no hesitation or doubt in his voice. _That hurt._

That was it—Hijiri was going to get this kid out of here _today_.

But for now, he needed to remain calm and make it clear to the boy that what he said was most definitely wrong. (Some part of him knew it was futile already). "Mitsuki. You are _not_ a monster. You were a _child_, and you made a _mistake._"

As expected, the disbelief in the boy's eyes was as clear as day. He was clearly hesitating to respond, but Hijiri waited patiently, and eventually he did get a weak protest. "But um…you…my—my file, you read it, right? I—_**I killed**_—"

"Mitsuki," Hijiri broke him off gently. "Yes, I did read your file. It was clearly labeled as a case of loss of control of a volatile Quirk. The situation was completely beyond your control, especially since you were _six_. It was a mistake, and _your mistakes do not define you._ I'll say it again: you were a child, and you made a mistake, and you have already been held accountable for it for far too long. And **I **_**will**_ **get you out of here.**"

There was only one way to describe Mituski's expression right then, and it was sheer _panic._ "_No_—"

"I will," Hijiri repeated in a tone that booked no argument, and Mitsuki immediately flinched and backed down. "I think you're an incredibly kind person, Mitsuki. You would prefer to keep yourself locked up because you're afraid of hurting others, and that's a level of selflessness that not everyone has. You have a big heart and a pure soul; you've simply been led down the wrong path by the people around you. But I'm here now, and I'm going to take you by the hand and help you down what might not be the _right_ path but a _better_ path, one that _you_ choose to travel."

When he saw the first signs of tears, he finally gave into the instincts that he had been fighting against from the very beginning of their meeting. Standing up quietly, he walked around the table and carefully, gently, pulled the fully sobbing child into a hug.

"…_s-sorry…_I'm sorry…I didn't mean to, I promise, I was just…s-scared—_I was_ _so scared—_"

"It'll be okay now. I'm here to save you. That's what heroes do after all."

He waited for the boy to cry the rest of his pent up emotions out (he clearly hadn't ever been able to show any emotion, and listening to his near silent, painful cries was so, so heart wrenching). Then he smiled and lightly ruffled the boy's soft black hair.

"Then, as of today, **you're officially the first student of Shinraikai Academy's reform program.** We'll make a great hero out of you yet, Mitsuki, I'm sure of it."

* * *

**To Renjou Hijiri and Renjou Haruko,**

**The government has reviewed the details of your request. It was after much debilitation and…**

…_**we have officially decided to grant Shinraikai Academy the right to conduct a vigilante reform program for children between the ages of 14-15 who are currently imprisoned. Please contact us before conducting the requested interviews…**_

* * *

Renjou Haruko could feel the way her brain halted on those words and temporarily shut down. She dropped the paper onto the desk in front of her and placed her face in her hands before groaning loudly, her head pounding due to the sheer number of thoughts she had mentally berating her twin brother. She allowed the thoughts a few moments to settle before she picked the paper up again, making sure to read every word this time instead of skimming for the part she was looking for, thinking that perhaps there was something else written in the document that negated anything at all—_nope, it was decided, she was going to kill Hijiri the next time she saw him—_

It was just as this thought was flitting through her mind that she heard the front door open and close, and she immediately shot to her feet to hunt down her _stupid_ brother who had just returned, with a sharp holler of "_**HIJIRI!**_"

As she slammed open the door to the living room, preparing to rain her full fury on her brother, she startled slightly at the sight of the young, teenage boy sitting on the couch. She took in his pale, sickly state and the stiffness he held, and she immediately could hazard a guess as to what was going on, which in turn only served to fuel the swirling rage inside her.

She closed her eyes and took a controlled breath, inhaling and exhaling deeply, and then made sure her expression was relaxed and showed no signs of her contained fury before murmuring, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Did you come with Hijiri?" The boy gave a timid nod, although he didn't lose the tenseness to his frame in the slightest, and she decided to leave him alone and asked instead, "Do you know which way he went?" At this, the boy seemed to hesitate, biting his lip as his sapphire eyes flickered all up and down her form, clearly looking for something (the depth of her anger, she assumed), and when he appeared satisfied with what he found, he awkwardly nodded his head towards one of the doors in the room.

She'd thought so.

"Thank you," she said to him softly, and then swiftly marched in that direction, following the hallway down to the study. Then she proceeded to throw the door open and clear the distance to her brother in a blur, aiming a swift karate chop right where he was standing. Despite having his back to her as he scanned through one of their files critically, he stepped to the side to avoid the strike at the last second and then sighed loudly before shutting the file to look at her. The moment he did, she shoved the government mandate into his face and said in an icy tone, "Care to explain this to me?"

"I _did_ explain it to you, three weeks ago—"

"_Three weeks ago, we said we would talk about it later_," Haruko interrupted sharply, scowling. She hadn't intended on coming off so strong, but her bubbling frustrations were overriding her logic and spilling out of her in a rush before she could control herself again. "You can't just do things behind my back and not _tell _me until you've literally adopted a kid and have him in our living room—"

"I haven't _adopted _him, that requires a shit ton of paperwork I don't ever want to have to deal with," Hijiri claimed. Haruko could easily see the defensive walls he was putting up, the way he was trying to brush her off with a joke the way he usually did, and it only made her _angrier_.

"You're utilizing the school dorm system we'll be implementing, that's basically the same thing," She said flatly. She paused briefly, pinching her nose and taking controlled breaths to try and calm herself down a little bit before she jumped into the argument, but it was no use. She rounded on him again, yanking the file he'd picked up from his hands to get him to pay attention. "Hijiri, we're supposed to do this _together_. What am I supposed to do when you keep doing these things without letting me know about it?"

"_You never would've agreed_—"

"_I was going to agree eventually!_" Haruko protested. "I'd just hoped—I just wanted for us to get a stable standing first! This is going to be our first year of opening, you know, the news of having a vigilante reform program isn't exactly good publicity! I know you want to help these kids, and so do I, but you can't help them if we get shut down before we can even start! You know how the media is, they'll never approve, and they're vicious about these things—I wanted to wait at least a _semester_—"

"But it'll be too late by then!" Hijiri was yelling now, his voice raw with emotion and his eyes slightly wild with desperation as he ran his hands through his long hair in frustration. "I-I know that what you're saying is true, but we can't wait that long! There are kids _suffering_, Haruko, you saw what they were doing in there! We can't just leave them alone—look at Mitsuki, he's been imprisoned for more than half of his life because of _one_ thing he did—"

A sudden realization dawned on Haruko, and she grabbed him by the shoulders in a panic. "How long have you been talking to him?!"

"What—?"

"_Hijiri. How long have you been talking to that boy?!_"

Hijiri instinctively avoided her gaze, and she could feel her heart sinking the longer the silence stretched on. She went to shake him again, desperate, and he finally muttered at a volume she almost missed, "…five weeks."

"Five weeks?" She repeated numbly, releasing him and standing back again. She could hear the way her voice started to take a hysterical edge, but she was far too drowned in her emotions to control it. "_Five weeks?!_ _You've been talking to him for five weeks and you didn't even think to clue me in?! _This wasn't spur of the moment at all! You—what—_how could you?!_ We promised we'd do this _together,_ didn't we?! I understand how you feel, but you can't just decide things on your own like this—!"

He shoved her off, his voice hoarse with emotion as he yelled, "**You don't understand how I feel at all, Haruko!"**

"Of course I do—"

"**No!** You don't! How could you understand?! What happened before—I can't ever—_not again_—"

"**OF COURSE I UNDERSTAND IT, I WAS THERE TOO THAT DAY!**" Haruko exploded, not missing the way he flinched at her response. "You're not even—you weren't even the one who had to watch your twin almost _die _after that either! Tell me, what part of it am I not supposed to understand?! You weren't the only one who was betrayed that day, Hijiri!"

The tense silence following her claim was so thick it could be cut with a butter knife, both of their harsh breathings feeling extra exaggerated with the lack of other noises. Haruko took a moment to try and calm herself down, sorting out the hurricane of emotions that was starting to tear her apart from the inside and separating them from her thoughts and arguments she wanted to make. She could see her brother doing the same in front of her, and the moment they both went to speak again, hopefully in a much more _civil_ conversation this time around, there was a quiet creak from the doorway that had them both turning their heads already, the motion interrupted only by the sudden fizzle and pop of the wireless printer in the corner before it abruptly went up in smoke. Haruko didn't let that distract her for too long though, as she moved quickly to approach the young boy that had been trying to run away before he could get too far. She tried to keep her approach nonthreatening, but it seemed to be fruitless as the timid boy instinctively flinched at the sight of her and broke out in apologies.

"I-I'm really sorry, I-I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it's just that I heard arguing and I wanted to make sure that everything was okay, I'm so sorry—u-um, it's not Hijiri-s-sensei's fault! I-It's my fault, if you'd rather send me back, you can, I don't mind—"

And it was right there that Haruko could physically _feel_ her resolve crumble and wash away. His gold eyes were so, so bright, and yet she could see the trauma present so clearly. Gently, _very, very gently_, she made sure he could see her hand as she reached forward and ran her fingers through his soft hair, patting his head as she squatted to ensure that their gazes were level. "Your name was Mitsuki-kun, right? Is it alright if I call you that?"

Mitsuki gave a jerky nod of his head, his movements stilted. Haruko sensed his discomfort and retracted her hand, noticing the way that his frame immediately relaxed slightly.

"Alright, Mitsuki. I need you to listen to me. None of this is your fault, okay? I know you were in a bad situation, but _you're safe here_. I promise." Mitsuki clearly didn't believe her, but that was all right. They'd have to ease him into it; they had time. To lighten up the mood a bit, she smirked and added, "In fact, this is entirely my stupid brother's fault, because clearly only one of us received the brain cells when we were born, and it wasn't him. Can't fault you for that, but I _can _fault you for not _telling me things when you're supposed to._"

There was a notable glint of gratitude present in her twin's eye, but Hijiri was quick to follow her lead without acknowledging it outwardly, crossing the distance of the room to join them in the conversation. "I can live with that, since receiving all the brain cells seems to have made you an absolute grump. _I'm _going to be the cool headmaster that everyone loves and adores when school starts, you know."

"Yes, and that's why I couldn't let you run the school by yourself, because you'd run it to the ground in the first two weeks," Haruko rolled her eyes, standing up and making her way to the printer to assess the damage. She clicked her tongue upon realizing that there was no repairing it, but she didn't say that with Mitsuki still in the room, knowing that would only send him spiraling again. Speaking of which—she raised an eyebrow at Hijiri expectantly. "Well, if you're going to adopt a child—"

"—_I'm not _adopting _him!_"

"—then do it properly and have the decency to take the kid shopping for starters," Haruko finished without acknowledging Hijiri's interruption. She paused before tacking on, "Out of your personal budget, of course, because you're _not_ touching our funds. We're on a limited budget as it is."

* * *

Kannou Mitsuki had never seen so many people in one place before. In fact, seeing this many people at all was incredibly intimidating and overwhelming at once. He almost wanted to turn around and ask Hijiri to take him back, but that would be really very rude of him after Hijiri had taken the time to bring him out here at all, so he swallowed the words back and resorted to hoping that the people would look past him if he occupied as little space as possible.

It hadn't ever worked back when he was being held in the Institution, but then again, that had only been because he was the only one in the room.

It was fine, he told himself, hoping it would stick with him eventually, it was fine, he was fine, he was just completely overreacting. Just look at all of these people around him, laughing and enjoying themselves so happily. He was being completely unreasonable.

_You can't compare yourself to them,_ a voice said in the back of his head. _You'll never be able to be like them anyway. They're not monsters like you. _

And while he knew that already in his head, it was so hard to remember when his heart filled with pure longing. Still, he shook it off as best as he could, directing his focus instead to making sure he didn't run into anyone as he navigated the crowded area—mall? That was what Hijiri had called it, anyway.

Still, if nothing else, it was so nice to be back under the sun. He'd been allowed every once in a while, but that simply didn't compare to being here, of his own will, _free_.

He wasn't sure how long it would last, so he'd enjoy it while he could.

"Mitsuki."

He flinched at his name. Upon spotting Hijiri's—well, he wasn't quite sure what that look was, but he'd been seeing it quite a lot on both Hijiri and on Haruko as well. Either way, it brought a familiar wrenching guilt to his gut, and he tried (and failed) to relax his completely locked joints, dropping his eyes and forcing his tongue to move. "Y-Yes?"

His voice came out in a barely comprehensible squeak, and he flinched again.

"Don't be afraid to look around and buy whatever you want. That's what we're here for, after all, so go wild. Whatever catches your eye, just let me know and we can get it, okay?"

Mitsuki swallowed. His mind was screaming immediately, because there was physically no way that was the truth; _everything_ came at a price—but at the same time, he knew the only acceptable answer was _I understand_. Just as he had finally forced himself to settle on the safe answer as per habit, three loud, consecutive **BOOMs** rang out and he found himself not having to respond at all.

They both instinctively turned towards the direction of the sound—with Mitsuki flinching yet _again_, good _God_ he _really _needed to _stop doing that_—and immediately caught sight of the smoke billowing from a building a few blocks away. Nervous, Mitsuki didn't stare for very long before glancing over at Hijiri to gauge his reaction, and was not surprised to see the man with a slightly strained expression. He did remember the man mentioning being a hero once.

"Um," He spoke up, and had to repeat himself when it was lost under the noise. Hijiri glanced at him, and he quickly fumbled out, "You could go help them, if you want? I-It just looks like you…I mean—"

"No," Hijiri interrupted with a forced nonchalant tone. "I'm here to look after you today, I'm sure the other heroes have it handled. And I'm technically not a full-time hero anymore, anyway, so it's not like they can fault me for it~"

That strained expression was still there. Mitsuki might have been considered defective already, but he was _not _going to become a burden on the person who had rescued him.

"But—"

"_What's going on over there?"_

"_I dunno, but it's been like that for an hour now. Apparently reinforcements got delayed or something."_

"_Wow, sucks. What heroes are on scene anyway? Think we can still make it if we go now?"_

The overly loud (why was everything so _loud_ here, it was terribly jarring after a life of near isolation and Mitsuki hated it) conversation passed by them at just the right time, and he knew Hijiri had not missed it either with the way the man's features tightened. Encouraged now, he pressed with a shaky smile, "I'll be fine. Someone might need you, right?"

_He wasn't going to be a burden no he wasn't he wasn't he wasn't_—

Hijiri seemed to read some of the desperation present in his eyes (even as he tried to hide it) and finally let out a long exhale. "Man, what the fuck. Haruko totally has claims on the entire luck factor too, I swear, my luck has _always _been shot. All right, fine, whatever. Taking you into battle right away would probably be a bit much, so I'll be right back, so stay here and don't move, okay?"

Mitsuki nodded. Now _that_ was something he could do.

(He didn't feel uneasy or scared upon seeing Hijiri leave. _He didn't._)

And so Mitsuki sat at the circular benches to stew in his thoughts and wait. He couldn't help but notice that the many (_too many_) people of the mall continued to mill about despite the possibility of an imminent villain assault, all of them acting as if nothing had happened at all as they continued on their shopping spree. How often did this have to happen for it to be so _normal_?

Just thinking about the dangers of the world made his stomach twist uneasily once again upon being reminded of _his_ very presence in such a crowded area, and quickly set about redirecting his thought process before he started hyperventilating over the misplaced trust Hijiri had in him for the second time that day.

In fact, what did that say about _heroes_? The only heroes he'd ever seen were Hijiri…and Haruko, too. But even then, he hadn't seen either of them in action, and his memory of watching heroes on TV as a child were…_vague_, far too vague. Hijiri had saved him, yes, but somehow, he knew that this was _different._ There was something more about heroes that he simply didn't understand (probably because he was defective that way, but still). Honestly, what did Hijiri even see in him if he couldn't even _understand_? _How was he_—_how was he supposed to be_—

"Oi, get the fuck out of the way, you're occupying my space. I was there first, asshole."

The voice was loud (again), and much too close for comfort, and Mitsuki flinched as he snapped his head up to look the man looming over him in the eye. The eyes were dark, and Mitsuki could easily spot the malicious intent they held, so he quickly averted his gaze again in hopes of preventing trouble. Still, he _had _promised Hijiri he wouldn't move, so… "Um, I—"

"Didn't you hear me? I said, _get the fuck out of my seat._"

Mitsuki was on his feet and a safe distance away from the man before he'd even realized it. The man had moved to grab him, and he realized with relief that his defensive reflexes had kicked in to avoid the hand the second he'd sensed it coming.

That's right, there were always going to be people like this too. He'd have to find somewhere else to wait then. Hopefully Hijiri would understand. If not…well, he was sure that whatever punishment Hijiri dealt out couldn't be as bad as some he'd endured before. He could take it.

He'd naturally assumed that that would be the end of that, but instead, the man only seemed to look even _more_ enraged, turning to face Mitsuki with an aggressive stance. "You think you're all that, do you? Think you're better than me just because you act like some kind of spineless _puppy_ adhering to all of society's wills?"

And well. Wasn't _that_ ironic.

Some part of his bitter amusement must have shown on his face (even though he was typically way better at controlling his expressions; it must have been the anxiety of a new location) because the man sneered again and suddenly swung his fist back. Mitsuki felt the panic overwhelm him at the sight of the strike, and his reflexes kicked in once again at the sight of it, swiftly dodging the punch and pushing the man's arm to the side in an easy block.

(Thankfully, he'd felt the familiar spark of his Quirk and had suppressed it immediately).

Still, the man looked incredibly close to popping a vein with how red his face was turning. Mitsuki had seen that expression before, and it wasn't ever a good one. He stepped back and lowered his hands. "I-I'm sorry, that was—"

The man struck again, and this time Mitsuki's hands merely twitched—then stilled. The punch landed squarely on his cheek and sent him soundlessly to the cold, hard ground.

"You're just a fucking _brat_, just who do you think you are, giving me attitude like that, _huh?!_ Fucking piece of shit, someone needs to put you in your place, clearly."

The feeling of pain was familiar now, and resigning himself to the beating, Mitsuki simply covered his head with his arms in preparation for the next assault.

It was fine. _It was normal._ **He deserved it, after all.**

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Mitsuki's gold eyes flew back open at the sound, and, bewildered, he watched as a girl swiftly moved in between them and kicked the man's pivot leg out from under him, knocking him harshly to the ground mid-kick. The man sputtered and scowled, immediately scrambling back to his feet, but the girl (no older than him, with a well concealed athletic frame, he noted) confidently took on a defensive martial arts stance.

"I don't want to fight you, but **I won't let you lay another finger on him. **So you should scram while you can!"

…_what?_

The man sneered and threw another sloppy punch, but the girl swiftly dodge and used his momentum to grab his arm, twist him around, and neatly throw him over her shoulder. Mitsuki winced a bit when he hit the ground, choking and instantly falling unconscious, but the girl simply frowned and dusted off her hands before digging into her pocket for her cell phone. The cute decorative keychains clacked together as she swiftly punched in a couple keys, and then she tucked it back in her pocket before approaching Mitsuki slowly and with a bright smile.

"I reported the situation to the mall security just now, so it'll be okay! Your cheek will bruise for a few days, but it'll heal by itself. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Mitsuki shook his head wordlessly.

"That's good!" The girl beamed (her smile was so bright and easy, Mitsuki really didn't know how she did it). "I'm sorry you had to go through something scary, but I'm glad I was able to help you! I kind of saw the beginning more or less from a distance, but it took me a while to get here. Honestly, I thought you had it for a second, too! But anyway, what I'm trying to say is that what happened wasn't your fault at all, so you shouldn't pay any attention to what he was saying!"

…_no, that wasn't how things worked for him._

But still, Mitsuki nodded, not wanting to say something wrong and ruin the girl's obvious good mood.

"Hey," The girl's features and her voice both softened suddenly, her magenta eyes staring directly into his gold ones without hesitation. "Don't worry. _Things will get better, I promise._"

Mitsuki could only stare at her. Then it occurred to him that he hadn't said a single word to her, and since she'd saved him, that was really rather rude of him. So he forced his voice to work again, no matter how raspy it came out. "Th-Thank…you…"

The girl's blinding, peppy smile was back again, and it almost made him feel like he should be smiling with her. "There's no need to thank me! Just take care of yourself from now on, okay? I have to go now, but security will be here in a few minutes to look after you!"

He nodded again with a whispered "Okay…"

The girl stood from where she had squatted in front of him, her long platinum blond hair swishing in its twintails as she moved. Mitsuki's eyes tracked the way her phone fell out of her pocket in the process, and he reflexively reached out to catch it before it could hit the floor. She startled and then laughed, accepting it from him gratefully. "Oh shoot, thanks! Wow that could've been a disaster. Ah, it's not turning on…oh there it is! Thank goodness~" She tucked her phone away again and smiled at Mitsuki once more. "Hey, what's your name?"

"…Mitsuki…"

(Strangely, for once, Mitsuki didn't feel compelled to answer because he'd been asked a question, but because he _wanted_ to.)

"That's a cute name, say it with more confidence!" She grinned. "My name's Riri! I'm sure you'll see me around somewhere again, Mitsuki-kun, so make sure you come say hi! By the way, you should smile more, it looks great on you!"

Mitsuki's eyes widened in a mix of surprise and confusion as his hands flew to his mouth. _Did he really…?_

Riri simply laughed and then with a cheerful "See ya!" took a running start before springboarding into the air, covering the distance of the mall in large kangaroo-sized hops.

Mitsuki stared after her, still completely perplexed and even more overwhelmed than he was before.

_Is that what a hero is like?_

_**Could…someone like me…really be like that?**_

But he knew from experience that hope was a fragile, painful thing to have, so he shook his head and mercilessly crushed the fluttering butterflies before they could take flight.

* * *

Miyabishi Ririka was going to botch her landing _again_.

—Or wait, maybe she could still make it! She still had some room left, so if she executed this properly, she could probably land on the porch and use the door as a cushion!

That decided, she neatly tucked her limbs in and turned an elegant 360 in midair, carefully keeping an eye on her landing spot. At the very last moment, she stretched out again, but as her Quirk kicked in to prevent damage to her knees, her momentum proceeded to carry her forward. Having expected this, she let out a triumphant "Hah!" and reached out to steady herself—

The door opened.

"_Waah_!" Her surprised squeal mixed with her brother's alarmed shout as she toppled on top of him, sending them both sprawling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. "Nii-chan!" She whined in complaint as she pushed herself up. "I almost had it!"

"_Ow, my head_—what do you mean, you almost had it? Didn't Mom and Dad tell you to stop using your Quirk in public anyway?!"

"What_ever_, it's fun, and I'm being careful!" Riri reached out and helped her older brother to his feet, reaching up to press down the lock of brown hair standing up on his head while she was at it. In return, he rolled his eyes and tugged on her hair lightly, but she still yelped and place a protective hand over the three small braids woven into her ponytail. "Hey! Watch the _braids_! They took forever this morning, don't ruin them!"

Kazuya rolled his eyes as he reached around her to shut the door, giving the pink tips of her long hair another yank because he could. She glared at him, but he said flippantly, "I _know_, you were in the bathroom for like forty minutes this morning."

"Beauty like this takes time, you know!"

"_What _beauty."

Riri feigned offense, reaching over to lightly smack her brother on the shoulder. (By the way he winced and rubbed at it, maybe it hadn't been as light as she'd intended, but he'd live). Before she could give a proper scolding, another girl's gentle voice rang out from the kitchen, "You wouldn't understand, Kazuya. And don't tease Riri too much, she's cuter than you are."

Forgetting about her brother entirely, Riri squealed and raced past him to find the source of the second voice. "_Wakana-chan is here_!"

"You're my girlfriend, you're supposed to be on _my _side," Kazuya complained as he trailed after them, huffing out an exasperated breath at the sight of Riri immediately tackling the older girl into a tight hug.

Riri waited until he had picked up the cup of tea on the table before saying smartly, "She might be your girlfriend, but she's _my _future sister-in-law, of course she'll side with me." She broke out in laughter when her brother choked on his drink and Wakana turned cherry red.

Letting the two lovebirds collect themselves again, she casually grabbed a small container of strawberry ice cream from the freezer and plopped herself down in the seat next to Wakana. Finally, Kazuya glared at her slightly before sighing and asking instead, "So how was school today then? You mentioned having your high school application counseling today, right?"

Riri sighed. She'd been hoping to put this conversation off for a little longer, but oh well. "I mean, it was fine, I guess. Everyone keeps saying I should go to UA if I want to be a hero though, like UA's the only hero school ever. I told them I don't want to, and do you know what they said? '_It's such a waste, you have the potential._'" Riri threw up her hands.

Kazuya's gaze was sympathetic, but Wakana blinked slowly, confused. "Is there something wrong with UA…?"

"No, there's nothing _wrong_," Riri insisted, sticking another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth so that she could gather her thoughts. "I just don't want to go there. I'd rather go to a smaller school and make my own path to being a hero, since I don't think where you go to school should be such a big determinator in your hero career. Plus, wouldn't it be nice to give the lesser known hero schools some recognition by becoming the best hero there is after graduating?"

Wakana clearly didn't understand, but she offered a polite "That's a very interesting mindset to have."

Kazuya rolled his eyes. "Don't fall for it, she's just salty that UA rejected our parents in the past. Even though you _know _their Quirks weren't suitable for hero work anyway."

Riri flicked a spoonful of ice cream at him. "Okay, so that might be part of it, but that doesn't mean everything else I said isn't true!"

"Speaking of which, there was something I wanted to show you," Kazuya said suddenly, digging his phone from his pocket and searching something up quickly. He slid the device across the table so that Riri could pick it up (not without silently judging his poor choice in phone case). A video was loading slowly, and then a woman appeared on the screen, her short brown ponytail and glasses completing her sharp, slightly stern appearance. "Isn't that the hero you said you ran into a while back?"

_It was_.

Riri didn't respond, magenta eyes wide and bright as the video continued playing, revealing the interview setting clearly featuring the hero (_the Speed Hero: Inazuma_, she thought, recalling the research she had done after that night, _real name Renjou Haruko_).

"_So I hear you and your brother decided to start a hero school instead. What made you come to that decision?"_

"_Honestly, I don't think the two things have to be completely separate ideals. Nothing about us has changed: we still want to help people however we can. We've simply chosen another route to go about it, that's all. We both met people, children, that have influenced our decision, and we decided it would be more to our preference to watch over and instruct the next generation. Because ultimately, that's what it comes down to, isn't it? Everything as we know it will change one day, and our era will come to an end. So it's important that we instruct and lead the future heroes, the ones who will be the next to save this planet, down the right path. Hijiri and I both came to an agreement that this was more important, and that's how Shinraikai Academy came to be."_

"_That's certainly an interesting mindset to have. Do you have any words to say to the future heroes who will be attending your school?"_

"_Being a hero is not an easy path. It's all right to turn around and decide that it isn't for you. Heroes will inevitably walk a bloody path more often than not; that is the unfortunate truth of the society as it is today. However, we will do our best as your instructors to give you the best education and training we can possibly manage, so that you all can be the ones to help society get back on its feet and pave a cleaner, brighter path to the future. It will be hard, and you will want to give up. But _don't. _One day, there are people who will need your help, and there are lives that you will save. As long as you have the desire to listen to and answer the calls of the people, Shinraikai Academy welcomes you as your new home."_

The video ended abruptly, and Riri found herself wishing it hadn't. Her brother was calling her name, but that was background noise to the awed thoughts floating around her head. _Something about the interview was dragging her in, was calling to her, and she was going to answer it._

"—oi, _Riri_!"

"I've decided!" She announced, almost throwing Kazuya's phone in the air in her excitement. As it was, she knocked the chair to the ground as she jumped up, causing Kazuya and Wakana to both startle at the sudden movement and noise. "I've decided, this is it, I'm gonna do it, Nii-chan you're _awesome_—"

"Wait, hold up, _what?_" Kazuya said over her, trying to calm her down. "What are you talking about? Don't tell me you—"

"**I'm going to attend Shinraikai Academy, and from there, I'll become the greatest hero you've ever seen!**"

* * *

_A/N: Okay! Hihi, thanks for stumbling across my story! This will be my second attempt at an SYOC, and I'm sorry that my first one died, but now I have wonderful friends on my side, particularly the phenomenal amazing **heartattak** and **Monty's Cloudy Day**, and since I did have a pressing idea, here I am! I'm really, really excited for this, and I hope this prologue was able to convey that! I actually have pretty much an entire plotline detailed out, so no worries, I know exactly where I want this to go!_

_But enough rambling! Um, to give all of you submitters some clearer ideas of the set up, this is a **canon-parallel** story taking place at a hero school called Shinraikai Academy! As you can tell, there's more to the academy than meets the eye, and the truth is that it will be split into two separate classes: the regular hero class, the Gold Class; and the secret reform class, the Silver Class! It's inspired by Vampire Knight's Day Class and Night Class, in fact! But well, obviously, the two classes will end up interacting and bonding later on down the line~ And this is an SYOC, so if you're interested, I'll be accepting 14 students for the Gold Class, and 14 students for the Silver Class!_

_Rules and forms can be found on my bio! Again, thanks for checking this out and reading, and I hope you enjoyed the prologue! (Would love to hear thoughts and feedback on it too, of course~!) Submissions will close **March 10**, and I'll be sure to post another chapter before then! Until next time~_

_Chikage_


	2. Prologue II

**Prologue II**

* * *

**A/N: So I had originally planned on using this next chapter to introduce some of the characters I've accepted, but I got bored and tired of waiting so it turned into a world-building chapter instead because I just really wanted to write something lol. So here it is! Enjoy!**

**EDIT: ****A note that was brought to my attention: So in the second section, Riri has a friend named Mina. I won't lie, I completely forgot that Mina was Ashido's first name lol, and that's not what I was going for. Mina's just a random classmate; her full name is Kawasaki Mina! There's probably a lot of Mina's in the world (I was honestly going for one of the most generic names possible), so it wouldn't be unusual for them to have the same name, right? :P So that's not Ashido Mina, Ashido Mina doesn't really have a personality like that anyway!**

* * *

"_Miyabishi. You really won't consider applying to UA instead?"_

_At this point, it was taking everything in Riri not to roll her eyes at her guidance counselor. Pulling herself together quickly, she slipped on a natural, easy smile and answered in a slightly forced chipper tone, "I apologize, Sensei, but I won't. I've decided to go to Shinraikai Academy, and that's where I'm going to go."_

_The teacher looked dubious still, scanning over the form she had turned in listing her high school aspirations. And then he leaned back and sighed heavily, as if _Riri _was the one being unreasonable. "Shinraikai is a completely new hero school; in fact, this will be its first year of opening. If you're aiming to become a hero, I still feel that you should choose a safer path. You're strong, Miyabishi, I'm sure you could make it to UA if you tried—"_

_Good lord, this was never going to end, was it? She'd heard this at least seven times so far today, come on— Riri reigned her growing emotions in tightly, examining her perfectly manicured short nails as a distraction, frowning when she found a chip in the polish. Might have been from that little scuffle she had yesterday in the mall. Speaking of which—_

_The sudden silence caught her attention and she returned her gaze to her teacher's expectant one. Oh, was he done now? Great, no more dawdling; it was time to put an end to this conversation. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she said in a serious tone, "Sensei. While I appreciate your concern, this is regarding my own life and is, therefore, my decision to make, and I've already made it. Besides, who's to say Shinraikai won't become as great as UA one day?"_

"_Yes, but_—"

"_I won't apply to UA. Not even as a backup plan," Riri said firmly. "Now, is that all?"_

_The teacher gave another heavy sigh, longer this time. After an extended amount of silence, he finally said shortly, "Yes, Miyabishi, that's all. Please call Onamora in next."_

_Riri smiled genuinely this time, getting to her feet and bowing once before heading towards the door. "Of course! Thank you, Sensei!"_

_As she crossed the room, she heard him mutter loudly, "Kids these days. Really, what a waste of potential…"_

* * *

Riri scowled sourly as the conversation played in her head again, biting into her popsicle harshly. The stinging cold on her tongue was a welcome distraction from her swirling thoughts. There was a loud crunch as she bit down on the ice, and then a second later her friend smacked her on the shoulder.

"Stop that, you heathen," Mina huffed. "You know I hate that. What are you thinking so hard about, anyway? Still the conversation you had with the guidance counselor?"

"Not even just that!" Riri exclaimed, pointing her half-eaten popsicle at Mina accusingly. "I had at _least _five teachers come up to me today to tell me that I should apply to UA! Even _Shinohara-sensei _said that to me, and I'm not even in her class! It's just so annoying, why are they all so obsessed over UA? It—I just—_gwah!_"

"Um," Mina said in thought. "To be honest, I'm pretty sure it's because having a student go to UA would look really good on their record, you know? We're such a small school, it's never happened before, and you could probably make UA if you tried."

"I don't _want _to though!"

"_I_ know that! But the school doesn't understand that, because _everyone_ wants to go to UA, you know?"

Riri blew out an irritated breath, watching her long bangs fly out in front of her. She _did_ know, as a matter of fact; she'd been aware of that for some time now, really, but she'd been trying not to think about it. She hated the idea that the teachers that had supported her studies and her dreams for these past few years would just completely disregard her own feelings that way. Still pouting, she took another angry bite of her popsicle.

Honestly though, she probably should have expected the shove Mina gave her.

"Hey!" She protested as she stumbled to the side, swallowing and almost choking on the popsicle piece as she did. But as she flailed slightly, she spotted movement from behind her, and she anticipated the incoming collision moments before it happened—

_Thud._

"Oof!"

Riri was able to regain her balance thanks to a hand from Mina, which (thankfully) prevented her from completely landing on top of the other girl. Riri had spun around in the next instant, reaching out with her not-sticky hand to help the girl up. "Oh! I'm so sorry, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

The girl looked up. The moment her grey eyes made contact with Riri's magenta ones, her expression immediately shuttered and went blank. It was fairly subtle, as the girl's face hadn't revealed much to begin with, but still, Riri noticed the change immediately, Regardless, she pretended not to, continuing to worriedly scan the girl over for any injuries. To her surprise, the other girl then ducked her head and, completely avoiding her outstretched hand, pulled herself to her feet without ever meeting Riri's eye. The mumbled "It's fine, I'm fine. I'm in a hurry, excuse me" was stiff, and then the girl was bolting down the street without another word.

Mina frowned, leaning over Riri's shoulder to comment, "Well, that was rude."

_No,_ Riri thought to herself contemplatively as the silver-haired girl vanished into the crowd. _She wasn't being rude. She was being defensive. That was a defensive mechanism._

But that wasn't her business, she reminded herself. That wasn't her business, and she couldn't get involved.

"_**Right now, I need you to understand that you're not a hero. You're just a student. It's not your job to save people. Train more, and then **_**make **_**it your job. But for now, live your own life, and stop trying to save everyone you meet because, to be frank, it's none of your business."**_

That was right. She wouldn't get involved.

"Riri-chan…?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Riri put on a cheerful smile as she returned to Mina's side, pulling the brown-haired girl in the direction they had originally been walking again. "So what were talking about—_oh fuck _my popsicle! Aw, it's all over my hand now, that's _gross_—"

Mina giggled. "We were talking about not going to UA." When Riri groaned, she laughed a bit more fully and prodded, "All right, then tell me more about why you want to go to Shinraikai. You were trying to tell me yesterday, but you weren't making any sense."

"Okay, _rude_. But anyway, did you see Inazuma's interview on Hero News Weekly yesterday?"

"You know I don't really keep up with that stuff."

"Well, there was something that she said that really resonated with me—"

* * *

**PRO HEROES INAZUMA AND TEMPEST TO OPEN A HERO SCHOOL?**

"…it's important that we lead future heroes, the ones who will be the next to save this planet, down the right path," says Inazuma.

_Pro Hero Inazuma, real name Renjou Haruko, held an interview with Hero News Weekly yesterday morning to reveal the much-anticipated details behind the opening of the brand new hero school, Shinraikai Academy._

_Last week, Inazuma and her twin brother, pro hero Tempest, real name Renjou Hijiri, announced their decision to leave the hero force and instead open up a hero school instead. This announcement faced much criticism from the public, who claimed that the two had not been heroes for very long, having only made their debut five years prior, and are thus running away from the tough hero life. Neither heroes have responded to these claims._

_To the surprise of the critics convinced that Shinraikai will sink in the first week, Inazuma has revealed their powerful sponsorship by the internationally renowned Data and IT corporation, Anzen'naie. She has also provided the names of some pro heroes who have agreed to serve as staff members, including the Nightlights Hero: Neon and the Puppet Hero: Marionna. _

_Inazuma ended the interview with a bold claim: "As long as you have the desire to listen to and answer the calls of the people, Shinraikai Academy welcomes you as your new home." Critics claim that this is a clear attack on today's hero society and…(continued on page 7)._

* * *

"Are you _still_ reading that rubbish?"

Haruko's gaze flickered upwards briefly before disregarding Hijiri's presence as unimportant and returning to the crinkling newspaper in her hands. Not bothering to delegate her brother's comment with a response, she simply turned the page, continuing to skim through it.

Hijiri snickered at her blatant annoyance, popping open the canned drink he held in his hand and leaning casually against her desk to read over her shoulder. Haruko only barely reigned in the anger she felt at having open drinks in her office _after she'd repeatedly told him not to,_ only letting a mild eye roll slip through, and instead shifted slightly so that her brother could read the newspaper more clearly.

She pulled away again when she suspected Hijiri was about to pour his soda all over the paper.

"Honestly," He huffed irritably, the metal can crackling slightly in his grip, "I don't understand how you put up with that shit. _Or how you're so old-fashioned either; for heaven's sake, use a computer, Haruko_—yeah, you're gonna have to try harder than that if you wanna actually hit me. But I was saying, did you even _read_ what they wrote?"

"Yes," Haruko said promptly, which earned her a sharp flick on the ear. She sighed. "I'm not sure what you're expecting, Hijiri. We're a new school, of course we're going to get criticism. _And that's even without you pulling stupid shit_—"

"I got it, I got it," Hijiri scowled. "Stop _nagging _me about it already, you're not my mom—"

"I certainly feel like I am sometimes. Also, I'm allowed to nag at you all I want after you let that boy come back with a near _broken jaw_—"

"Okay, you know what, I've already been angsting over this enough by myself, I don't need to hear this from you too, _Mom._ But Yoshino got him fixed up so he's fine now—"

"_Maybe with some new and completely unnecessary trauma, yes_—"

"That's—that's not even what we were talking about!" Hijiri redirected defensively. Good, he was aware that he wasn't going to win this argument then. "We're talking about this shitty article that made you look like an idiot. Not that you aren't, but I'm the only one who's allowed to say that about you."

Haruko swiveled around in her seat to give him a _look_.

"_Don't look at me like that. _Just because you're smarter than me doesn't mean you're not still an idiot."

Okay, that she was willing to concede to. "I appreciate it, but it's fine. I said a lot of things in that interview that I probably shouldn't have said, but I certainly don't regret it. We have to show them how serious we are about this, after all."

Hijiri took a gulp of his soda before saying, "Weren't you saying something yesterday about, oh I don't know, _bad publicity_?"

Haruko ignored the jab. "This and that are two completely different things. Telling the brutal truth isn't bad publicity, and if we want this to really succeed, we're going to need to attract the right students. I don't know about you Hijiri, but I'm not going to let this fail. _I won't let Shinraikai fail. _We can't let what…what _happened_ happen again."

The silence that shrouded the two of them this time was a much more comfortable one, albeit sprinkled with sorrow and guilt. The rustling of the newspaper in her hands was shrill, and she bit the inside of her lip hesitantly. Perhaps…she shouldn't have said that. She shouldn't have brought it up again—

"Well, it could be worse," Hijiri said finally, reaching over and flipping the newspaper in her hands over entirely to display the article decorating the back cover. "We could be the ones dealing with _this_, you know?"

Haruko gave him the flattest, most unimpressed look she could manage.

* * *

**BREAKING NEWS: SENKIAI INSTITUTION SHUT DOWN DUE TO CORRUPTION**

_Yesterday, the police conducted an impromptu press conference to formally announce the closing of the Senkiai Institution under the grounds of corruption and various illegal practices including but not limited to Quirk and human experimentation, drug development, and documentation fabrication._

_The Senkiai Institution is one of the longest-standing government-approved long-term juvenile holding centers. All of the Institution's inmates are minors who have committed grave crimes and are considered a threat to society if not properly contained. Three years prior, they received an award for having the most humane treatment of their prisoners, but the police have revealed that the award was a cover-up conducted by the government. They have announced that all of the inmates currently being held at Senkiai will now be transferred to Minachigu Juvenile Center as soon as possible._

_Additionally, through their investigation, the police found that one of the wardens at Senkiai was not a licensed warden at all but an infamous mad scientist captured in a raid led by the Number Ten Pro-Hero, Gang Orca almost seven years ago from today: Inoue Koumi, villain name Miss Genesis (aged 28). Inoue had ties to various politicians that have now been arrested, including…(continued on page 3)_

* * *

"Sorry to call you out so suddenly like this, All Might. I know you just got here and all."

Tsukauchi Naomasa gently set a cup of tea in front of his friend, feeling the way his lips curved upwards slightly at the way All Might—or rather, Yagi Toshinori—smiled kindly and reassuringly at him, despite the heavy topic he was about to breach.

"No, it's no problem at all," Toshinori said, sipping his tea carefully. The fact that the empty police station office didn't bother him at all was rather telling of the number of times he'd been there as well as the trust he held in his friend."You mentioned something about Senkiai Institution over the phone?"

"Yes," Naomasa slid him the newspaper he had stored in his bag, pointing at the article on the front page. "You've read this, right?"

"Yes, I have," Toshinori nodded. "Principal Nedzu brought it to my attention yesterday, in fact. What about it?"

"Actually, I happen to be in charge of this case currently," Naomasa admitted, his grip on his own cup of tea tightening and then loosening again. "It's a temporary assignment; it'll be switched over to another department shortly, but there was something that caught my attention so I wanted to tell you while I was still cleared to do so."

"Yes…?" Toshinori said uncertainly. "What is it?"

Cutting right to the point, Naomasa pointed at the one of the profiles printed on the article. It was a headshot of a young woman with long, purple hair tied in a side ponytail, her amber eyes wide. Despite her prison uniform and her position, she still had an eerily wide, toothy smile stretching across her face. "This villain, Miss Genesis—have you heard of her?"

Toshinori stared for a few seconds to take her appearance in, blue eyes seeming to glow in the shadows of his face. Finally he answered, "No, I don't believe I have."

"I pulled up her record. She's the daughter of Politician Inoue Koushi, who has now been arrested for accepting bribes and other corrupt dealings. Inoue Koumi was arrested once at 19 under charges of kidnapping and suspected murder, although there was no surefire evidence, but she and another inmate succeeded in breaking out shortly after. She was arrested again at 21 by Gang Orca upon discovery of her dealings with the human trafficking market and what was essentially a human experimentation lab. She had presumably been taken to Tartarus, but, well. It turned out that was a coverup. More importantly—" Naomasa met Toshinori's gaze solemnly, making sure he held the hero's full attention for the next part.

"The reason I felt the need to tell you about her, All Might, is because there has been evidence to suggest that she has been attempting to find a way to extract and transfer Quirks."

Naomasa saw the way that Toshinori's blue eyes widened, and he knew immediately that the skeletal blond man knew what he was hinting at. Still, it was horror and slight fear that had Toshinori still muttering, "You can't mean…"

"Yes," Naomasa admitted reluctantly. "I'm afraid so. I'm not sure if she has directly taken inspiration from…_him_…or if it's a project entirely of her own doing, but regardless, the danger still remains."

"But she was arrested, wasn't she?" Toshinori said suddenly, pushing to his feet in a panic as he leaned across the table. "Wasn't she sent back to Tartarus?"

"…_**She escaped on the way.**_"

Naomasa clenched his hand in a fist, hating the fact that he even had to say those words. _How could they have let her escape?_ She had been right there…He couldn't help but look up at Toshinori's emaciated form again, his heart sinking into his stomach even more as he did. The heroes worked so hard to defeat the villains, and it was the police's job to make sure they _stayed _defeated. _And they'd failed._

_They'd failed those kids_—

A series of images flashed through his mind at that thought, and he hurriedly pushed it aside, because this was not the time for that.

"What about the kids of the Institution?" Toshinori said finally, breaking the tense silence in a hushed, grave voice. "Are they safe? The article said that they're being transferred, is that right?"

"Actually," Naomasa corrected, grateful for the change in subject. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. You're familiar with Inazuma and Tempest, right?"

"Ah, yes, I remember seeing their debut in the Kiyomi Ward attack. It was quite remarkable," Toshinori commented. Then a light bulb went off in his head and he added, "That's right, didn't they say they were opening a hero school?"

Naomasa nodded. "Shinraikai Academy. Now, what I'm about to tell you is top secret, but the government has granted you special clearance since you're the number one pro hero and I was the one requesting. _Three weeks ago, Tempest filed a request for a prototype reform program for some of the kids that were being held there, and it went through_."

"A reform program…?" Toshinori echoed involuntarily, taking another sip of his tea.

"Right," Naomasa said. "And they asked me to help out with the selection process, given that my Quirk is what it is."

"I see," Toshinori mused. Although he didn't say anything more on the subject, Naomasa could tell from his expression and his eyes that he was slightly doubtful but also fairly _hopeful_. Naomasa smiled at that, relieved that he and his close friend felt the same way on the topic. Although there was some residue fear and doubt, as would be expected, in the end, it was their job as heroes and as adults to help the next generation down the right path. That was undeniable, and it was something he rather admired Inazuma and Tempest for having the courage to try and trust where no one else did. Then Toshinori suddenly looked up again, frowning, "I don't mean to be rude, but why are you telling _me _this, Tsukauchi-kun?"

Naomasa started, stopped, gathered his thoughts again, and then ended up smiling a bit bitterly as he admitted, "Well, the official reason is that in case anything goes wrong, you're aware of it and can help with damage control. You're the number one hero, after all. But…I suppose I also just wanted some reassurance as well. Especially after…my meeting with _that boy_…"

When Naomasa trailed off, clearly lost in his swirling thoughts, Toshinori prompted gently, "Tsukauchi-kun?"

"Oh, sorry," Naomasa said quickly. "All Might, do you remember…seven years ago, the media panic caused by the case of Kannou Mitsuki?"

Toshinori's gaze was sorrowful as he stared out the window absently. "Of course. _How could I forget…_"

* * *

All Mitsuki had wanted was some water.

He hadn't been sure where his limitations were, so he'd cooped up in his room all day, not wanting to get in trouble for wandering when or where he wasn't supposed to be, curled up in the corner of the room and, with nothing better to do, absently picking at the loose fabric on the bottom hem of his pants. It wasn't until he almost choked from the dryness of his throat that he decided to risk sneaking down to the kitchen to get some water.

He'd had it all planned out, in fact. He'd be quiet, he wouldn't go outside, and he wouldn't go anywhere except the kitchen. He'd get a cup of water, drink it, wash the cup and put it back, and then he'd be back in his room like nothing happened. Hijiri had been nice to him so far (_so far_), so it…should've been fine.

But then _noise_ had hit him just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and he froze with one foot still in the air, clutching the railing tightly.

_People? Were there people? There shouldn't have been any people. Who was it? Did someone break in? No, this wasn't break-in noises, he knew what those sounded like. This sounded more like…like _casual chatter—

Tentatively, he stepped onto the very last stair step, making sure that it didn't make any noise, and peered cautiously around the corner to find the source of the noise. To his amazement, there were three—no, _four_ other teenagers his age gathered around the couches in the lounge of the dormitory, talking casually amongst one another—well, no, it looked like two of them were fighting about something?

Curious, Mitsuki leaned closer, but flinched when the girl with midnight-black hair seated on the couches suddenly gave a side glance right at him. His gold eyes met her inky black ones, and in the next moment he had turned and taken off back up the stairs as fast as he could. A loud "who was that?" echoed after him, chasing him all the way down the long hallway back to the room Hijiri had said was his.

He could feel his heart thudding painfully against his chest as he carefully closed the door, hesitating a bit before clicking the lock in place. Even then, he winced at the sound, but resolutely turned and habitually curled himself up in the corner of the room. He wrapped his arms around himself protectively, doing his best to ignore his aching throat.

Those people in the lounge…He _knew_ them. They had been at Senkiai Institution with him. He remembered seeing them, though he had never talked to them. (Obviously. It's not like they would have wanted to talk to him, anyway. With him being…who he was).

He just…hadn't thought he'd ever see them again.

Well, Hijiri had said that he was only the first, so he really should've expected it, but still…he'd probably blocked it out because he hadn't wanted to think about it, so that was entirely his own fault. But…he hadn't talked to people his age in so long. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to, either.

…How was he supposed to do this, exactly? _Any_ of this? He didn't even know how to function like a normal human being. Could he really do this? This…this whole hero thing…surely, Hijiri had made a mistake. And he'd realize it soon too, so…

_But…_

But to be a hero…to be a _good person_…Mitsuki wanted so, _so_ badly to at least be able to do that much…

"_**Now, now, Mitsuki-kun. How many times do I have to tell you? You're not a human, you're a monster. All you ever do is hurt people. We don't want that now, do we? That's why you have to stay here, locked away, where people will be safe from you. Do you understand? Good, that's a good boy."**_

Mitsuki let his eyes flutter shut, the familiar sound of the woman's soft lilting voice echoing in his head endlessly. No, he didn't want to think about this anymore. _He didn't want to think about anything anymore._

He tightened his arms around himself and leaned his head lightly against the wall, slowly letting the silence of the room lull him into a restless slumber.

* * *

"_Do we…have to do this?" Mitsuki asked quietly, hating the way his voice still echoed in the uncomfortably empty room. _

"_I'm afraid so," Hijiri responded apologetically. "It's an order from the government. But don't worry so much and just answer these questions as truthfully as you can, okay?"_

_Mitsuki peeked up a bit to study the man's face without meeting his eyes and then nodded. He immediately cast his gaze back down at the table, however, carefully avoiding looking at the other man sitting right next to Hijiri. The unfamiliar man was fully decked in a uniform_—_a detective-style police uniform, he remembered from his studies_—_and he held himself in a manner that made Mitsuki incredibly anxious. The way he was _staring, _too, as if he were seeing through Mitsuki's protective layer entirely and staring instead at the disgusting, messy monster that made up his soul, and Mitsuki really wished he would stop because _no one _should have to see _that—

"_Mitsuki?" Hijiri prompted, jolting him back to reality._

"_I-I'm sorry_—"

"_No, it's all right," The man interrupted, and Mitsuki flinched again and immediately clamped his mouth shut, training his gaze carefully on the table again. "Sorry about that. My name is Tsukauchi Naomasa. My Quirk is one that allows me to tell if people are lying, so I'll be conducting this interview with you today. Is that okay?"_

_Well, what else could he say? Mitsuki bobbed his head in response._

"_Could you give me a verbal response please?"_

"_S-Sorry, um, yes, that's fine."_

"_Thank you. Now, just as confirmation, could you tell me your full name and your date of birth?"_

"_Um, Kannou Mitsuki, and…I think I'm…14 this year? B-But I'm not sure when exactly my birthday is_—_s-sorry, it's written on my file though_—"

"…_All right, that's all right." (There was something about his tone of voice that Mitsuki couldn't place a finger on). "Then, can you tell me…"_

_The time passed slowly. Mitsuki resisted the urge to fidget, carefully keeping his eyes trained on the table as he spoke. The cold of the metal room was seeping through his thin clothes, but he refused to shiver. He wasn't quite sure what he was saying, but he was talking, and whatever he was saying seemed to be acceptable in the police detective's book. Every once in a while, he peered carefully through the long fringes of his black hair to observe the two men quietly, but neither gave anything away, and he became more and more tense as he continued to fish for the expected answers as best as he could._

"…_all right, last question."_

_Mitsuki swallowed. There was a metaphorical burning in his throat that he couldn't get rid of, and he really, really didn't want to talk anymore. But what he wanted didn't matter, had never mattered, so he simply nodded._

"_What do you hope to accomplish as a hero?"_

"_To help people?"_

_Mitsuki winced as soon as the response came out. It was likely the correct answer to the question, yes, so it had slipped out without his realizing it before it was too late, but…_

"_The truth, please," The police detective prodded in an even tone, not giving anything away. His rectangular eyes were piercing, sending the clear message of '_I know what you're doing.'

"_S-Sorry, I…"_

_Mitsuki was…_exhausted. _He could feel his energy seeping out through his skin, the way he slumped in his seat. He was completely drained by this point; he just wanted all of this to be over with. Why were they asking him these things, anyway? He really didn't know what they were expecting from him. He didn't know what they wanted him to say, and he was just so, _so tired—

_The words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them._

"_I just…I know I probably…can't be an actual hero or anything, but I…I just want to be a good person_. _I…want to help people…if they'll let me. I'm just really…really tired…of hurting people all the time…of being a_—_a monster, of being…_me_, and…for once…_I just want to know what it's like to be a good person. _I don't want to hurt anyone anymore…"_

"…_I see." The police detective snapped his notebook shut without changing his expression, and Mitsuki immediately tensed. That had been the wrong thing to say, hadn't it? Why had he said that? He knew better than that_— "_Thank you for your cooperation, Kannou-kun. If you'll excuse me."_

_Startled, Mitsuki could only stare in bewilderment as the man smoothly stood and left the room without another word. He was only brought out of his confusion when Hijiri reached over and gently patted his back, carefully forcing himself to not jerk away from the touch. He glanced up at the brown-haired man, anxiety likely displayed all over his face, and was surprised by the gentle ruffle of his hair._

"_You did well, Mitsuki. I knew you would. _You'll be a great hero, I know it."

Ah, _Mitsuki realized then as an unfamiliar but gentle warmth spread throughout him. _This is…

_He was a defect of society. A monster. He knew it, and society knew it. That was why they had kept him locked away. But…if Hijiri, his hero, his savior, believed in him…then, maybe…_

_But then the thought thinned, faltered, and faded like mist, disappearing from his mind entirely, as if it had never even been started at all. Mitsuki felt himself give a detached, robotic bob of his head, his gold eyes growing dark and dull, with no signs of understanding or hope at all. _

* * *

**A/N: And that's that~ So a few things!**

**Chapter Notes:**

**Hm, it ended up being shorter than I hoped, but also I got everything I wanted to say in there so I'm happy with it~ I hope you enjoyed this little world-building chapter with my two children (or four if you count the twins too I suppose), and Tsukauchi and All Might made a surprise appearance! I hope I did them justice!^^ Thanks for reading!**

**Submission Notes:**

**Submissions are still due March 10, and I'm sorry I haven't really been responding to PMs! I'll be honest, sometimes I just really don't know what to say so I end up not saying anything at all, and it's a bad habit that my introverted heart needs to break. But I do make sure to answer any and all questions I get so don't hesitate to reach out to me on that front! **

**Regarding the cast list, I'm still hovering between 15 and 16 characters per class, we'll have to see how my planning ends up. Lastly, as I've said, I won't be choosing my characters until after the deadline passes, because otherwise I'll get too excited and fill up spots too quickly lol. I am willing to offer extensions to the deadline as long as you notify me a few days before the deadline, along with a rough estimate of how long you think you'll need! I won't extend it too far since I am going on a week-long study abroad trip the week of March 14 and would like to finalize the list before I do! (And hopefully have a third chapter posted before then too~)**

**Until next time! Good luck and have fun creating~ For those of you also in midterm hell, we suffer together! XD**

**Chikage**


	3. Prologue III

**Prologue III**

* * *

_The whispers were loud._

"_Look, there she is again."_

"_Where did she come from again? Karuizawa?"_

"_I think so, yeah. Can't she go back there? She's so _weird_."_

"_You know, Ana-chan tried to talk to her yesterday, and she didn't respond _at all. _She just sat there with that same face, like she couldn't even hear her!"_

"_Eh, seriously?! But _everyone _likes Ana."_

"_I know, right? It's so weird. _She's _so weird, we shouldn't get close to her. She's like a robot or something, I swear."_

"_Seriously though, why did she even come here? Do you think it's because she got kicked out of her old school?"_

"_Stop it, that's so mean!"_

"_I'm just saying! It wouldn't be impossible, right? You know, she's got the look of…um, you know, a villain! Like she could kill you with one look or something_—_oh! Do you think that's what her Quirk is? Is she secretly planning on killing us all?!"_

"_You're so ridiculous! She's not a villain, a villain would do a better job of fitting in than _that—"

_The whispers were _loud. _The paper in her hands crinkled slightly when her grip tightened, and she frowned slightly before smoothing it back out. Still, her hands trembled slightly, and she clenched them in an attempt to stifle the movement. Her silver eyes stared a hole into her homework, as if trying to light it on fire with her glare alone, and she thought venomously, _I can hear you, you know…

"_Are you the new student?"_

_She only barely suppressed a sigh. Were they going to say it to her face now? Well, she'd already heard everything anyway, so they might as well. Resigning herself, she turned her gaze upward and was startled upon immediately meeting the bright vermillion eyes smiling down on her. The other girl was in her face almost immediately, and she leaned back instinctively._

"_Um_—"

"_Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out like that! I was just curious, because I was gone yesterday when you transferred in, so I wanted to say hi, that's all! Ah! Is that the math homework from today?! Wooow, you actually understood Miji-sensei's lecture?! Can you help me with it?!"_

…_what was going on?_

"_Oh silly me, I didn't even introduce myself, did I? I'm_—"

_The volume was muted all of a sudden. She could see the other girl's lips moving, but she couldn't hear any sound coming out, and she could only stare in bewilderment. The chatter around them faded slowly into incomprehensible and fuzzy background noise, and yet she _still _couldn't hear the words coming out of the girl's mouth_, _no matter how hard she tried_—

**BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.**

Tatsumi Mikita groaned at the shrill sound of her alarm and blindly reached out to smack the offending source. She squinted blearily at the red digits for at least forty seconds before the numbers finally registered in her head, and without another moment to spare, forcefully pushed herself up, rubbing the grogginess from her eyes harshly.

Of all of the days for her body to decide to wake her up _on time_ and not _two hours before_…

But then, that might have had something to do with the fact that it had refused to shut down until 3 AM last night too, so there wasn't much she could do about that.

She went about her morning routine calmly but quickly. It was when she was washing her face that she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and pursed her lips slightly. _It's going to be a new beginning,_ she told herself. She grabbed the first hair tie she saw and swiftly pulled her silver hair into a high ponytail. Then she immediately grimaced and yanked it out again, figuring she could decide what to do with the wavy mess when the practical exam actually came around. She shoved the drawer shut again and briefly met her own ashen-grey eyes in the mirror in a silent promise. _And I'm going to make the best of it. I'll become the greatest hero, you'll see…_

_So…_

"Mikita?"

Her mom's voice carried up the stairs, and she pulled herself away to gather any remaining things and make her way downstairs with a quiet "I'm here."

Tatsumi Kanade smiled gently at her daughter, setting a plate of eggs and bacon on the table. "There you are. Did you sleep well?"

Mikita nodded wordlessly, as both an answer and as thanks, sitting down and picking up the fork. Kanade smiled and reached over to ruffle her daughter's hair lightly.

"That's good. So today's your big day! How are you feeling?"

Mikita took a moment to weigh her emotions. How _was_ she feeling? At her mom's gentle prodding, she stabbed a piece of egg and stuck it in her mouth to eat as she was contemplating, and eventually came up with, "I'm not sure…kind of excited, maybe. But I won't let that get in the way; I'm going to be a great hero, and I…" She faltered, and then finished weakly, "I'll make you proud, Mom."

She ducked her head to avoid her mother's sad smile, sticking another piece of her breakfast into her mouth dutifully. Both mother and daughter were quiet as Mikita ate, and it wasn't long before she pushed the plate aside with a quiet "Thanks for the food."

"Of course." Taking the dismissal, Mikita picked up her bag and headed to the front door, reaching for her shoes. But she stilled again when her mom called her name again, turning her head with a questioning tilt. Kanade smiled gently and reached forward to pull her daughter into a tight embrace as she murmured into Mikita's hair, "You'll do great, I'm sure of it. And remember that no matter what happens, I'll _always_ be proud of you."

Something in Mikita's chest swelled at the words, and she found herself even more determined than before. When she pulled away, there was a small smile gracing her face for the first time that day, as small as it may be.

"Thank you," she said just a tad bit hoarsely, and then ducked her head and quickly moved to put her shoes on. Then, with a slightly wider smile, her ashen-grey eyes light with determination, she said clearly, "I'll be leaving now."

* * *

"Follow me."

"…yes, sir."

Naito Kaname ducked her head and obediently followed the guard down the hallway. Everything felt fuzzy and surreal, and she watched dully as her feet planted themselves one in front of the other, monotonously. She still wasn't quite sure that this was happening. It had been a week since that interview, and she'd just started thinking that the mention of a '_reform program_' had just been a scam, _or that she hadn't been worthy of it_—

"Oi, hurry up and get in. We don't have all day."

Kaname looked up and realized they'd entered a dimly lit garage that she assumed was underground, given the stairs she'd traveled, and she swallowed thickly at the sight of the car the prison guard was gesturing her into impatiently. Still, she pushed down her discomfort and climbed inside wordlessly, not wanting to receive another sharp reprimand.

"Oh, hello!"

Kaname startled, and once the car door had slammed shut behind her, instinctively inched closer to it before nodding at the brown-haired girl sitting across from her. The girl smiled kindly, and Kaname nodded back respectfully. She'd hoped that would be the end of that, but to her dismay, the brunette pushed on with the conversation.

"Nice to meet you! My name's Otome Nadeshiko! What's yours?"

She glanced warily at the separator standing between the front and back seats. It wouldn't hurt to respond, she supposed. "Naito Kaname…"

Nadeshiko nodded before commenting lightly, "This all feels kinda strange, doesn't it, Naito? I never thought I'd end up here…Have you been here long?"

Kaname's heart ached at the question. "Yeah," she whispered a bit hoarsely.

Nadeshiko's smile was sad, and she turned to look out the window just as sunlight hit the window. Kaname turned her head to look out her window as well, letting her dark pink pupils greedily absorb the light, a childish awe spreading across her face. Somehow, being able to see the sunlight from inside the moving car was…_different_. And have the trees always been that vibrant? The green blurring past her window was beautiful, and she wondered if it was a psychological difference or simply because it was spring. Speaking of spring, would she get to see cherry blossoms again? She'd almost forgotten that they were a thing; it had been so long since she'd last seen them…

She pressed closer to the glass subconsciously, bright eyes taking in every bit of the new scenery unfolding around her. Everything felt so…_surreal._

_What would she do if it all ended up being a dream? _Her heart skipped a beat at the horrifying thought. It was so unreal, it all almost felt like a dream… What would she do then, if it really were just a figment of her imagination? Would she…would she be able to handle it? She tried to shake her head, but she found that her body wasn't cooperating with her, simply continuing to stare passively out the window, greedily drinking in every sight of the blurring outdoors. No, she couldn't think about that…even if it were just a dream, she might be able to—

No. _No, no, no._

She was finally able to move her head. With a jerky motion, she looked away from the window reluctantly, glancing down at her hands instead, and—oh, she hadn't realized she'd been clenching her hand so tightly—she gently loosened her stiff fingers absently, rubbing at the indents her nails had left on her palm. Thankfully, the action forcibly pulled her from her paranoid thoughts, and she breathed in a shaky breath to calm herself.

"—ito, we've arrived."

Kaname startled at the sudden voice, and a quick glance around showed that the car had stopped, currently parked in front of a large building, which she assumed was the school. (How long had it been? It had only felt like a second). Nadeshiko had crossed over to her side of the car at some point, holding the door open and gently patting her shoulder to get her attention, and Kaname quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and hurried out of the car upon noticing the driver's irritated expression. The car drove off without even a moment's hesitation, kicking a blast of exhaust pipe smoke into both girls' faces, and Kaname couldn't curb her irritation at the rude driver.

Nadeshiko was clearly just as upset, pouting as she brushed off her clothes and complained loudly, "Hey! What was that for?!" When she noticed Kaname looking at her curiously, all signs of annoyance were instantly gone from her face as she beamed a bright, almost contagious smile. "It's nice to be outdoors again, isn't it?"

Kaname felt a hint of guilt and embarrassment wash through her as she realized that the girl had been sitting beside her for the entire duration of the car ride and she'd barely even acknowledged it. If Nadeshiko had said anything in the car, it had gone right over her head. "Yeah," She said now, turning to look at the building they had been dropped off in front of. "Where are we?"

"It must be the school, right?" Nadeshiko commented, and Kaname couldn't understand how she looked so cheerful. "It was, um, what was it called again?"

"Shinraikai Academy," A new voice answered for her, drawing both girls' attention to the man who had spoken. He was leaning against the pillar at the entrance casually, and Kaname couldn't be certain whether he had been standing there all along or he had just come out from inside. He smiled easily when he saw them, moving to greet them. Her dark pink eyes instinctively followed the long braid that swished as he moved before being drawn back to his face when he spoke again. "It's good to see you again, Naito and Otome, yes?"

"Yes, sir," both girls said, although Nadeshiko's tone was notably more chipper.

"Sensei will be fine," the man, who Kaname abruptly remembered had introduced himself as Renjou Hijiri a week back when he had visited her in the Institution, remarked. _Hijiri-sensei_, he'd said. He turned to lead them both inside. "Follow me. You're the last ones to arrive, and I'm a little pissed that they delayed it for so long, to be frank. Well, whatever, it's not your fault, and you're here now. How do you feel? No injuries or sicknesses? They weren't too rough with you?"

"No, we're fine," Nadeshiko said.

"Great, because you're just in time for the entrance exam!"

"E-Entrance exam?" Kaname stammered nervously. "Now?"

"Well, I say entrance exam because that's officially what it is, but I guess the roster has already been decided, technically speaking," Hijiri explained as he led them down an extremely high-tech hallway that Kaname would have marveled at more if her stomach weren't trying to tie itself in knots. "It's more of a way for us to gauge your skills and your character more, and it makes it easier for your future teacher to make lesson plans. But it's structured a bit like a normal hero school entrance exam. There will be a written part, but that's mostly just to check your academic level. We're really more interested in your practical exam scores, so I wouldn't stress too much about it. Just give it the best you've got; I'll give you a few minutes to prepare if you need it."

His tone was far too nonchalant for the nausea that was starting to build up in Kaname's stomach. When they had first approached her about the idea, she had been so grateful and so desperate for a second chance. She wanted to attempt to make up for all the damage she had caused. She wanted to stop being afraid all the time. She wanted to see her father and her sister again, and not from the prison center. She…_She wanted her father and her sister to be proud of her_.

But…as she followed the pro hero and her possible future headmaster down the hallway, she didn't feel anything except dread as she realized that _she would have to use her Quirk again_—the same Quirk that had ripped her entire neighborhood apart while she was asleep.

* * *

"_HOLY FUCKING SHIT!_"

Wamizaki Reiden winced at the sudden shout that rang out in the hallway. He, along with basically everyone around him, turned in the direction of the girl's voice, although he couldn't see her from the number of people gathered between them. While a majority of the crowd quickly lost interest and continued moving toward their destination (the auditorium), Reiden, his curiosity piqued, cut sideways and headed in the direction of the noise.

The source of the shout was easy enough to find. After he'd pushed through the stampede of nervous exam takers, his eye immediately caught on the short pink-haired girl standing near the wall, eyes wide and sparkling as she stared upward. There was no mistaking her identity, because as he moved closer, he could still see her mouthing words to herself that had him immediately cringing again upon realizing that they were all various cuss words on repeat.

"Excuse me," He drew her attention to him by placing himself next to her pointedly, "but I don't think you should be cursing in the hallways of a school building, even if we aren't officially in school yet."

The girl turned tomato red. She clamped her hands over her mouth with an embarrassed squeak, and her words rushed out in a hurry, "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to, I just—_look _at that!" She pointed at the top of the hallway wall, where high-tech, clear computer screens lined about the top fourth of the wall. "Those are—this is—I didn't expect a hero school to be so high-tech, and this is so cool!"

Reiden couldn't help but be amused at her enthusiasm. "Didn't you see them coming in?"

The girl shook her head vigorously, her low twintails slapping some passing students in the chest at the motion. "I was too nervous for the exam and didn't bother to look up, I guess. I'm not very good at the written part…but now I _have _to do well on the practical exam portion so I can make it into this school, because who doesn't want to be in a school that has _that _all over their entire building?!"

"Are you interested in technology?" He asked curiously. They were going to be left behind by the crowd at this rate, so he continued down the hallway, prompting the girl to follow.

"Are you _kidding?!_ Who isn't?!" The girl was bouncing excitedly as she walked now, her arms flailing. "I mean, I play a lot of video games, so the quality of that screen is kind of a dream for me, you know? Oh! Do you play any games?! You look kinda familiar, actually, and that white hair…have I—_shit_, I haven't even introduced myself, have I? I'm Saionji Ayana; people often tell me I talk too much so feel free to shut me up or call me out on it if I do!"

"No, you're fine," Reiden assured her quickly. Truthfully, she was coming on a bit strong considering his only friend growing up had been his sister, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Besides, her enthusiasm was contagious, in a way. "I'm Wamizaki Reiden—"

"_No fucking way,_ I _knew _you looked familiar!" Ayana interrupted. Reiden winced at the reaction, having hoped to stay on the down low at least for a while, but oh well. He should've expected a gamer girl to recognize him. "_That _Wamizaki? Of Anzen'naie? _The _number one global data and tech company? The same one that sponsored the creation of this very school?!" Her voice rose in both pitch and volume with every statement. At his nod, she barreled on, "Wow, that's _so cool!_ Ah, I guess that seeing that quality of technology isn't anything new to you then—_you're so lucky_! Are you sure you don't play any games? I'd love to play with you sometime—_hwaaaa_! Fuckity, _what?!_"

Wow, this girl swore a _lot_. Reiden would have tried to advise her against it again, feeling rather uncomfortable around it, but he had a feeling that his advice would go unheeded just like his previous one. Besides, his attention was caught instead on the black-haired boy that had suddenly appeared from an adjacent hallway and crashed right into the small girl, nearly sending them both toppling. Actually, scratch that—they _did_ topple. Reiden winced.

The boy stood first, a cheeky grin on his face as he reached down to offer Ayana a hand. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't see you there, shorty."

Ayana, who was a full head shorter than the boy, glared something murderous up at him and threatened, "Say that again and I'll break your knees, fucking giraffe."

The boy laughed easily and quipped without missing a beat, "Why, cause that's the only part of my body that you can actually reach, _shorty_?"

"You won't be taller than me when I put you six feet under," Ayana hissed, and Reiden figured that height was a touchy subject for her. "We'll see who's laughing then."

Figuring that it would be best to intervene before it escalated, Reiden put on his best authoritative voice that he knew would be effective as he scolded them both, "_That's enough. _It was an accident, and technically…um."

He glanced at the black-haired boy for his name, and it was only after a dramatic sigh that he received it: "Shishikawa. Shishikawa Jin."

"Nice to meet you, Shishikawa. I'm Wamizaki Reiden, and she's Saionji Ayana. Anyway, as I was saying, technically Shishikawa apologized," Reiden continued pragmatically. "Saionji can't help her height—"

"_I'll fucking murder you_!"

"—and that's not something we need to comment on. More importantly, we're going to be late to the debriefing if we don't hurry."

"Oh, right!" Ayana exclaimed, switching back to her hyper mode within a second. "We should hurry—"

"No running in the hallways!" Reiden insisted, and Ayana skidded to a halt before picking back up at a speed walking pace that _barely_ passed as walking.

"Come on, do you have to be so uptight?" Jin drawled from next to him. "It's not like we're even in school yet. Don't be such a disciplinarian."

"I'm not," Reiden frowned skeptically. As he glanced over at the boy another time, he couldn't help but notice that Jin had maintained the same casual, slightly mischievous smile the whole time, and there was something about the smile that bothered him but he couldn't place a finger on what it was so he let it slide. "I just think it would be good to make the rules into habits, whether or not they are in place yet."

Jin just snorted. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Reiden could hear his dad's voice echoing in his head at the response: "_Listen Reiden, above all else, you must maintain discipline. Always abide by your morals, take responsibility for your actions, and never stray from what is right."_

As Reiden went to respond to Jin's careless dismissal, a flash of pink caught his attention from the corner of his eye and he reluctantly turned his attention away from Jin to call out, "Saionji, you're going the wrong way."

"Huh, I am?!" Ayana popped out from the left turn she had just made at the intersection, looking utterly baffled. "This place is such a maze, everything looks the same!"

"You're just really bad at directions, aren't you?" Jin said wryly.

"I mean yeah, that too," Ayana agreed without hesitation. "You don't want to know how many times I've walked out of a public restroom and immediately turned the wrong way. I even got lost in my own neighborhood once, that was horrible. I had to call my mom for help because shitty Google Maps be shitty and maybe I'm really bad at reading maps even if it is digital okay whatever, and then I found out that I was literally in the street behind my house. Wait, you say that like I'm that much worse than you! Didn't you come from a completely different hallway earlier?!"

"Maybe I did, but I'm definitely not as bad as you after hearing _that_," Jin retorted.

Reiden cleared his throat and interrupted, "We're here."

He pushed the door open and was relieved to find that the room was still dark and filled with chatter, clearly having yet to begin. The three of them quietly slid into the nearest open seats, and the moment they did, there was a flash of light that had the crowd of students complaining and protecting their eyes. Reiden, being used to it, simply fixed his gaze on the large projection that had appeared at the front of the stage, realizing guiltily that they must have been the last ones. He silently reprimanded himself for getting sidetracked and delayed so much, even if it hadn't really been his fault.

There was a swirl of pink on the projection, followed by an explosion of hearts and confetti. A pink ribbon appeared at the bottom, barely visible, and Reiden frowned because it looked familiar but he couldn't remember—realization dawned on him then, and he could only stare in shock. _No way, don't tell me…_

A brunette peeked up from the bottom of the projection, and a cheerful voice echoed around the auditorium from the speakers. "Guess who~? Surprise!" An AI girl jumped out on screen. She had bouncy brown hair tied in a ponytail with a pink ribbon, and she wore a cute pink Lolita-style dress.

Gasps rang out around the auditorium as several students registered her identity, although there were about as many who didn't recognize her, Reiden noticed.

Still, none of them were as loud as Ayana's piercing shriek of "Fucking _hell,_ is that _Ai-chan?!_"

* * *

_Well, that was boring, _Nijima Akeno thought to herself, barely refraining from rolling her eyes. She ran her gaze over the dorm corridor skeptically. The fancy screens lining the walls were cool, but she didn't understand why they were there. If they were only there for announcements or something, it would make more sense to just have a monitor every so often. This just seemed extra and unnecessary, and she couldn't figure out why it was designed that way in the _dorms _of all places.

_Perhaps it was an extra security measure?_ She thought to herself absently. _But for who? For us…or against us?_

_Well, whatever. _She finished her exploration of the dorm that she and the 14 other reform students were staying at and cheerily made her way towards the lobby room or whatever it was called that they were supposed to gather at within ten minutes.

Pushing open the door, she noticed that there was already someone there despite the written exam having only ended a few minutes ago. She was a small girl curled up in the corner of the couch, with wavy, pale brown hair tied in a low side ponytail and large, round grey eyes. The girl looked up at the sound, blinking owlishly, and Akeno immediately thought to herself with a bit of a mental sneer, _She looks pure…innocent…_so easy to corrupt~ _I wonder what a girl like her is doing here~_

Without hesitation, Akeno moved to sit herself next to the girl, smiling brightly and greeting, "Hello there! I'm Nijima Akeno, what's your name?"

"Kayo," The girl said, her tone so soft that Akeno almost had to lean in to hear her properly. "Koge Kayo…"

"Nice to meet you, Kayo-chan! Is it alright if I call you that?"

There was no hesitation as Kayo smiled and agreed, "Of course."

"Hm…you can call me Pi-chan! That's what all my friends call me~"

"Okay, Pi-chan~"

_So she doesn't know,_ Akeno thought to herself. _But then, she seems like the type that even if she knew, she wouldn't bring it up, so I can't say for sure. Well, either way, let's have some fun while it lasts~_

"So Kayo-chan, what do you think about all of this?" She asked, and when Kayo only continued to smile, a confused glint in her eyes, Akeno frowned mentally, even as she kept her cheerful expression on her face outwardly. Something about the girl was ringing alarm bells in her head, although she wasn't sure why exactly. Instinctively, she continued, "Honestly, I think this entire thing is a little silly to me. Everyone is talking so much about regret and second chances and all that…_as if it's that easy._"

_You want it too, a second chance_, a tiny part of her said. She squashed it immediately, because that was ridiculous.

"Yeah…you're right," Kayo said calmly. A little _too_ calmly to match the words coming out of her mouth. "It does all seem a bit silly, doesn't it~?"

This caught Akeno a little off guard, and she understood where the alarm bells had come from earlier. _There's no way she…no one can be _that _easy._

The door opened again, and, annoyed, Akeno turned her attention away from Kayo over to the newcomer. The dark-haired girl in the doorway immediately scowled upon seeing her, a sentiment that was wholeheartedly mutual. Still, Akeno maintained her cheery disposition and was on her feet in a moment, because the girl already had a whole six inches on her in height, and she certainly didn't want the other girl to be _towering _over her.

"Of course, out of all people, it had to be _you_ here," The girl bit out in a low, growling voice.

"Come on, don't be so mean, _Tooka-chan_~" Akeno pouted, injecting just the slightest bit of a mocking tone into the girl's name. "We're all friends here, aren't we~?"

If it was possible, Tooka's inky black gaze darkened even further, and Akeno was pretty sure that if looks could kill, she'd have been dead ten times over. She cackled internally at the thought. "No, we aren't, and don't call me that."

"Oh? What would you rather I call you then, Miss _Mercury Queen?_" Akeno relished in the way Tooka gritted her teeth. It was her fault for taking the bait, after all. Her multicolored eyes glittered with mischief as she pretended not to notice it and moved closer so that she could lower her voice and murmur quietly, "Or perhaps…_a rabid dog off her leash, _miss _murderer?_"

"I haven't killed anyone…yet," Tooka's lip curled slightly, thinly veiled disgust clear in her inky eyes. "But you're about to have the honor of being my first. I'd rather think it would be doing the world a favor, don't you? You self-proclaimed _Shinjuku Queen of Depravity._"

_Self-proclaimed?! _Akeno demanded in her head. _I'll have you know that the entire district and further knows who I am!_

She clenched her fist slightly to control herself, and then relaxed her body with a single exhale. It was with a smile that she said with forced casualness, "Now, now, Tooka-chan~ There's no need to be so scary~ We're going to be together for the entire school year, after all! How about we call a truce, hm~?"

She held out her hand in a gesture of peace.

As expected, Tooka saw right through it (a pity), and Akeno instinctively leaped backward upon spotting the flash of black appearing in Tooka's hand—

"Not that this little dick-measuring competition isn't entertaining and all," a new voice pitched into the room, "but can you at least take it away from the doorway? I'd be more than happy to watch you two duke it out from the couch if you must."

_When did she get here and how much of that did she hear?_ Akeno's eyes narrowed slightly as she focused on the girl who stepped into the room the moment Tooka moved aside. She didn't seem to be anything special, although Akeno's inner artist had to give props to the way the gold streaks in her black hair complimented her eyes perfectly.

_She must be just another normal delinquent, _Akeno deduced after having finished scanning her over and not recognizing her at all.

"Sorry about that~!" She giggled in false nervousness, waving at the newcomer from around Tooka. "Tooka-chan and I are…_old friends,_ you see~"

The new girl looked completely unimpressed as she trodded her way over to the couch and plopped down near Kayo without any hesitation, simply giving her a bored, "Sure."

_Jeez, were all of her classmates going to be this boring?_ Akeno sighed to herself, making it as dramatic as possible to disguise the true feelings behind it. "You two are _mean_," she declared with a pout, throwing herself next to Kayo and wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. "Fine then, Kayo-chan will talk to me! Neeee, Kayo-chan~?"

Kayo smiled easily and genuinely, as if nothing had happened and Akeno had been talking to her this whole time. "Of course, Pi-chan."

_Dangerous_, Akeno couldn't help but think even as she launched into a random ramble about some of the funny things she had seen before, Kayo nodding along attentively. _This girl is dangerous._

* * *

"Fucking _hell,_ is that _Ai-chan?!_"

Basically every head turned to face the girl whose voice echoed through the auditorium, and Makoto Obi only barely caught sight of a blob of pink hair before she had ducked back down and vanished from his sight. He cringed in secondhand embarrassment even as the AI called Ai-chan giggled and chirped in her fluttery voice, "Pin-pon~ That's correct! Although please refrain from bad language next time, okay~?"

Her words drew a smatter of laughter across the crowd, but Mako's attention was turned back to the projection at the front. He couldn't say he didn't understand the girl's reaction, though; he was also in a little disbelief that he was face to face with _the _Ai-chan—

"_Ai-chan? Who's that?_"

Mako bristled slightly upon hearing a boy's voice from nearby. How could you _not _know who Ai-chan was in this day and age?

There was a sudden squishy poke on his forehead, and he flinched, reflexively slapping it away. He couldn't help but stare at the offending orange tentacle in mild bewilderment, following its path back to the girl's head on his direct right that it sprouted from. His gaze naturally met the girl's apologetic teal eyes as she reached up to curl the strand of her hair—the tentacle—around her hand, likely in an attempt to control it.

"Sorry about that," She said softly, her voice a calming soprano. "It doesn't usually do that. It might be because there's too many people here."

"Er, no, it's fine," Mako said awkwardly. He wasn't sure what to make of her wriggling hair only barely held down by a blue bandana, but he figured it was best to keep his mouth shut either way.

"You seem like you're familiar with her," The girl commented. "Is she an AI?"

_Ah, he must have said that out loud then earlier…oops. _

Mako made a noise that was a little too much like a scoff for his comfort. "She's only _the _most complex and sophisticated AI to have ever been designed in history; of _course_ I know of her. No one knows where she came from, but she suddenly appeared on the Internet about five years ago and instantly became the most popular Internet idol and cybersecurity app. She was capable about doing just about anything for you as long as you asked: make a phone call, defend against viruses, and even just run all your programs as you wanted without you having to move a finger. She was basically a much more high-tech, high-quality, interactive Siri in some ways—a personal AI living in your phone. But as suddenly as she appeared, she disappeared about two years back, and no one has heard from her since."

Mako was cringing to himself internally the moment the words left his mouth. That was probably not the right tone for a social conversation. No, that was _definitely _not the right tone—why did he always do this? Great, now she was going to react like every other person, either with a huff or a sneer and possibly even a mutter of "I was just asking, jeez"—

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm not really much of a technology person, to be honest, but that's really cool," The girl smiled kindly. "Do you like this kind of thing? You seem very passionate about it."

—um, _what._

Mako blinked twice, a bit astonished at the unexpectedly gentle reaction. Then he flushed in mild embarrassment and muttered, "It's common knowledge, really—"

"Kishi," The white-haired boy sitting on Tentacle Girl's other side interrupted, giving Mako a slight frown. Mako wondered for a moment if he was going to get something insulting before his eyes flickered back to the girl (Kishi, Mako assumed) with a tight smile. "We should pay attention."

As Mako turned to away from the two a bit sulkily (because honestly Mako _why _are you like this), his eye caught on one of the students in the distance repeatedly knocking their forehead against the desk, and honestly, _mood._

"Now, now, let's quiet down, okay~?" The cheerful AI drew their attention back to the front. She seemed to be floating around on the projection, her pink-streaked brown ponytail fluttering behind her like it was being carried by an imaginary wind. "Yes, for those of you who don't know, I'm the legendary AI, Aina! You can call me Ai-chan though! I'm here to officially thank every single one of you for applying to take Shinraikai's Hero Program entrance exam this year! I'm going to be in charge of handling all of Shinraikai's security and data storage programs, so I will do my best to ensure all of your safety and provide technological support for each and every one of you. But first, I am the one who will be proctoring and monitoring your exam today! Let's all be friends, okay~?"

A little 2D heart flew from her eye as she winked, and there was an overwhelming sound of cheers as all of the students shouted back, "Okay, Ai-chan~!"

"Now then, let's begin the practical exam! I'll be announcing the rules now, so listen closely, everyone!" She circled the width of the projection screen once more, and a graphic suddenly appeared in the middle of the screen. Aina shrunk in size to allow space for the graphic to be fully displayed.

It was a map. But it was a map that made little to no sense, and the more Mako observed it, the more confused he got. It was as if someone had taken a blank piece of paper and randomly threw darts at the board while blindfolded to determine landscapes; scattered around the map were segments of various different places that in no way should have fit together, clustered and fused haphazardly. He saw what seemed to be a sandy desert area placed directly next to a forest woodland area with no barriers in one corner, and the forest then had an edge labeled with bold lettering 'CLIFF!' before piecing directly into an elevated cityscape engulfed in flames. And that was only one tiny piece of the entire map—looking at it was giving him a headache, and thankfully, the confused murmur from the students around him told him that he wasn't alone.

"This is Shinraikai's very own simulation joint! After the debriefing and changing, this is where you all will be heading!" Aina announced cheerfully. She pointed at various places of the map, and wherever she pointed, the graphic zoomed in on that specific section. "As you can see, there are various different landscapes here to allow you to use your Quirks to their fullest potential. There are simple designs, such as the forest, the river, and the city, but there are also various disaster sites scattered, such as the fire infested city, the landslide risky cliff edge, and the flash flood risky coast! There's even an exploding highway tunnel, as you can see here!" Aina then twirled her way to the front of the screen again, moving so that her enlarged figure was now almost entirely covering the map. "Your initial placement in the dome will be randomized, unfortunately, so do your best to seek out your optimal fighting area as soon as possible!"

Aina jumped into the corner of the screen again, and the map vanished, now displaying five circles in the middle of the screen. "As collaboration will be a must in the hero force, you will be taking this exam in teams of five! Each of you will receive a digital watch before entering the arena—" A picture of the smartwatch in question appeared on screen, with white numbers displayed on the digital screen in large font, clicking upward in count every second—"which will tally how many points your team receives! However, even though we will look at your team scores, in the end it will be by your individual scores and merit that will allow you to pass the exam; meaning that it is not guaranteed for every member in a single team to make it in even if the team does well overall. You can think of your team score as a baseline; it's simply another judgement factor!"

Mako's gut churned a little in discomfort at that information. _A team battle…_

Before he had too much time to dwell on it, the screen then cleared again and was replaced by a split screen featuring two different silhouettes, the background of one side remaining a bubbly pink and the other side having darkened to an ominous blood red. "Now, how do you get points? That's easy! You will have two different types of points you can obtain: villain points, and rescue points!"

The screen zoomed in on the pink side, revealing a white figure very similar to a teru teru bozu: a white sheet thrown over and tied under a spherical object with a smiley face drawn on to resemble a ghost-like person with a flowy dress and no body. "You will find plenty of these puppets spread all over the dome in various different crises! These are the rescue victims, and you will receive points for saving them from whatever danger that they are in! From drowning to escaping a collapsed building to defending them from a villain, these are the people who need a hero's help immediately! The more danger that you save them from, the more points you get!"

The screen then zoomed in on the red side, but the figure remained a silhouette, although it changed rapidly between a humanoid form and various monster forms. "Then of course, we have the villain points! The villains will come in all forms and sizes, but they'll be surrounded by a purple aura so that you can locate them immediately! The villains will be doing their best to wreak havoc, and it's your job to stop them! Again, the stronger the villain, the more points you get for defeating them! Remember that it is not shameful to know your limits and run away from a fight that you know you can't win; play by your strengths and gather points where you can!"

"Attacking other teams or students is not allowed and will lead to minus points, if not a disqualification!" Aina zoomed in close to the imaginary camera again, making an x with her arms that flashed a digital red 'x' on top. Then she beamed brightly, flowers appearing on the screen around her as she said, "Is everyone keeping up so far? Do we have any questions?"

There was a moment of silence, and then a white-haired boy raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me! So the points are randomized? Is there a maximum or minimum amount of points we can get per rescue or defeat?"

"Oh! Of course!" Aina clapped her hands. "You will get at least one point for every rescue or defeat, and you can receive up to five points at once depending on the difficulty level! Thank you for asking~ Anyone—"

"Here," A navy-haired girl stood in the distance. "How is this safe? You mentioned an exploding highway tunnel before. If handled badly, there is a potential that someone could be seriously injured. Can you guarantee the safety of every exam taker here?"

"_Yes_," Aina said firmly and without hesitation, her pink eyes unexpectedly serious. "We have equipped the simulation joint with a plethora of security measures and sensors that are ready to be activated at any point. As an AI, I will personally be monitoring the location, status, and safety of each and every student from your smartwatch, and if I sense any of you to be in any danger at all, I will immediately trigger the necessary protective measures to keep you from harm. If any of you are injured, I will make the on-scene judgement call about your ability to proceed with the exam, and if I deem the injury too severe, I will unfortunately notify our nurse to retrieve you and withdraw you from the exam immediately. This will have no effect on your team members, and you will be graded according to your every action leading up to that point. It will be unfortunate, but we at Shinraikai _will not_ risk the safety of the students in our care. Thank you for your concern."

The navy-haired girl still looked rather unimpressed, but she sat down without another word.

"All righty then! Are there any more questions~?"

_Yes,_ Mako thought to himself, _can you repeat the whole thing from the top again please._

"Yosh!" Aina cheered. "I just have one final thing to say then: there is a final boss!" She moved to make space on the screen for a dramatic silhouette of a girl featured on a dark purple background, surrounded by little silhouettes of teru teru bozu. Mako had a vague suspicion as to her identity. "If you can find the Puppet Master and take her down, you will earn an immediate pass into the school! But be careful—she's suuuuuuuuper strong! And don't worry about not being able to collect points if you fight her; for fairness' sake, if you find her and are able to fight her at all but do not defeat her, we will allot your team the number of points that we believe your battle and effort deserves!"

Yeah, Mako _definitely_ knew who the Puppet Master was, and knowing her reputation, he wasn't particularly interested in seeking her out.

"The exam will last a total of 30 minutes!" The numbers flashed on the screen for everyone to see. "Gather as many points as you can in that time frame! That's all for the debriefing, I hope you got all of that!" The AI was back in her place in the center of the projection. "You will now get fifteen minutes to form teams of five, although there will be three teams of six, and to get to know one another and talk strategy! There are people at the door who will register your teams and give you each a digital watch, and once you exit this auditorium, I will help guide you to the changing rooms so that you can get a drink, use the bathroom, and change into your athletic clothes that you should have brought with you—" At this, she did another spin, and her pink Lolita dress had changed into a white tracksuit with pink stripes, her hair in two low twintails but still tied in ribbons—"and then we will head over to the simulation dome to start the exam! Good luck everyone, I'll be rooting for you!"

Mako could feel a headache building from trying to process all of the information that had just been thrown at him. At the very least, he was confident that he could remember the main points—groups of five, rescue and villain points, a catastrophic simulation joint—and he could wing the details from there. It…it wouldn't be that hard.

More importantly, he had to face the _real_ hard part first: getting himself into a team.

"Excuse me," Tentacle Girl, Kishi, waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention. She smiled brightly and gestured between herself and the white-haired boy sitting next to her, who was still fixing Mako with a mild frown. "Would you like to be on a team with Riku and me?"

Mako stared for a second, and a voice whispered in his head, _She is a goddess._

But what came out of his mouth was a rough, "Yeah, sure," and he wanted to kick himself.

"Great!" Kishi didn't seem to mind. "My name is Shokushu Kishi. What's yours?"

"Makoto Obi. You can call me Mako though."

_Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all._

* * *

Nousagi Shouhei hadn't _meant _to be late. But he'd just been so happy to be able to have a phone again and flip through social media to catch up on everything he had missed that before he knew it, _twelve_ minutes had passed out of their allotted ten, and he was rushing down the long dorm hallways to their assigned meeting place. When he timidly pushed the door open, he was relieved to see that there were no signs of adults, just fourteen kids seated scattered all over the room. All the couches and chairs were occupied, much to his disappointment, but then what did he expect when he was the last one to arrive. There was a light chatter filling the air, and Shouhei was immensely relieved for the nonexistence of the tension he had been dreading.

He shut the door behind him quietly and scurried into the room, quickly finding a decently vacant spot. He shifted nervously, tempted to pull out his phone again. But he glanced around the room and noticed with longing that many of the students had already started to talk in groups, although there were a mix of meek-looking and scary-looking people standing by themselves in corners.

_I shouldn't isolate myself on the first day,_ He told himself firmly. _I should make a good impression…and make friends._ His heart pounded in his chest at the thought, and he had to pause before continuing mentally, _I'll make friends, and I…_I won't betray them this time…

He steeled himself and nodded. _All right. Come on, Shouhei, you can do this. It doesn't have to be dramatic. Start small…like a compliment. You can never go wrong with compliments._

Shouhei caught sight of the boy standing next to him, who had one hand resting on the windowsill and was staring out the window with a mild frown, and he put on his friendliest smile before saying, "I like your nails! Did you paint them yourself? What brand is that?"

The boy glanced over at him and immediately scowled, his emerald eyes narrowing as he yanked his hand and his black-painted nails away from the windowsill and shoving them in his pocket instead. "Whatever, loser. Fuck off."

Um.

Shouhei ducked his head, trying to keep the hurt off his face as he mumbled a quiet "Sorry" and scooted a little further away.

Well. That didn't work.

He hoped that the entire class wasn't like that…no, he couldn't base the personalities of his entire class based off of one of his classmates. Besides, maybe he was just having a bad day. Everything was happening very suddenly, after all. It was still only the first day, so he had time to get to know all of them better…

But the hurt in his heart didn't go away, and he kept his head lowered anxiously.

"Hey, it's okay," A girl's voice said near him suddenly, and he startled. He only realized she was speaking to him when a hand gently patted his head twice. "Cheer up. I'm sure we'll all be great friends by the end of the year~"

"Thank…" He looked up, and almost immediately froze. The word "you" died on his tongue, because _there was a super cute girl in front of him_. She had silky chestnut brown hair tied in twintails with pink ribbons, the smoothest skin that Shouhei had ever seen, and large, expressive blue eyes. She was smiling cutely, and she looked—she looked like—

"Hm? Is something the matter?"

"_You look like an angel,_" he blurted out.

The girl giggled, and to his relief, it wasn't an uncomfortable or fake one in the slightest. Her blue eyes were twinkling, Shouhei noticed. "Ara, why thank you~ I'm Otome Nadeshiko," She introduced herself, and yeah, Nadeshiko was a fitting name for an angel. "And you?"

"Nousagi Shouhei," Shouhei answered, giving her a slight bow as best as he could while sitting down. He gave her his most sincere smile he could manage. "You can call me Shou if you'd like."

"Pleased to meet you, Shou-kun," Nadeshiko said. "Let's have a great year together!"

'_Shou-kun_' was looping in his head in her angelic voice, and maybe Shouhei should have thought that through a little more.

"Likewise," Shouhei said a bit breathlessly.

Just as he was about to start digging for his best and most gentlemanly pick-up lines (that he hadn't used in about a year), the door opened again, drawing all of their attention to the man who stepped inside. Shouhei's heart sank in disappointment at the sight of Hijiri, their possible future headmaster, but he quickly shook it off and resolved to be better prepared next time.

"Oh, great, you're all here!" Hijiri said cheerfully as he crossed the room to stand in front of them all.

"Yeah, _you're _the one who's like ten minutes late," A girl's voice said from the back. Shouhei flinched at her brashness.

But Hijiri seemed unfazed as he answered promptly, "I thought I'd give you all some bonding time. Since you'll all be spending the entire school year together, and primarily in this dorm at that." Several people seemed like they wanted to raise protests or demand explanations at that, but before they could, Hijiri charged onward, tapping his clipboard that he was carrying with him against the wall to keep them from talking. "Sucks, I know, but it is what it is. I'm here to go over some basic rules regarding this program with you again before you begin your practical exam because some of these rules will apply to the exam itself as well. I went over the basic points with you last time, and I'm going to go over them again with some more detail right now, because they are important and I need you to get them drilled into your head moving forward. One wrong step could land us, the school, and _you_ in serious trouble, and we'd all like to avoid that, so here we are. Or so that's basically the paraphrased version of the lecture that Haruko gave me, so you guys lucked out. Congrats."

It was a thought that had crossed Shouhei's mind the first time he'd met the man, and it passed through his mind again: _For being a headmaster and a pro hero, Hijiri sure carries himself with an appalling lack of decorum._

But, in a way, it was comforting too.

"I'll go through this quickly, because I know you all are antsy to go beat shit up, and I don't particularly want to be here either, so listen up and don't make me repeat myself," He paused, and then seemed to remember that he was dealing with a group of traumatized children, and added, "You _can, _of course. Well, anyway, these will all be written up and sent to you if you need to look back on it."

He flipped a page over on his clipboard, and there were a few moments of silence as he skimmed through the content. Then he threw the clipboard aside carelessly and started, "Okay. This is your dorm. We've sectioned this area off from the rest of the school and will be informing the main class kids not to come this way, because it will be used in the future for senior classrooms or future training places, and that the construction is still patchy, so it's dangerous. Ultimately, they shouldn't come this way at all, so you can relax, but in the case that they do try to avoid being seen if you can."

"Why, because we're your dirty little secret?" A boy's voice bit out harshly.

"For now, yes, because Haruko is still dealing with the publicity of everything," Hijiri answered unhesitatingly. "I'm working to slowly ease the public into the idea though so that you don't have to hide for very long, but I can't make any promises. Continuing on, we have heavy security in place around the school and around your dorm itself—for _your _protection. If you ever run into any trouble, don't hesitate to notify us for help; we will always put your safety as your first priority. Our security is run by an AI, Aina, who you'll meet here soon. She will always be present to both keep tabs on you, yes, and ensure your safety. Quirk usage outside of class and training will be limited, but not restricted. If you abuse your privileges, they will be taken away, so use them wisely. You will not, unfortunately, be able to leave the dorm by yourselves; however, you may apply for a chaperoned trip, which will likely be me or one of your teachers because we love you guys that much," He smirked at the few disgusted noises that brought about. "I'm kidding, it's because it's our job. Either way, because we only have so many chaperones, there will only be so many trips allowed out unless you want to group up and go with friends. You'll all be attending therapy once a week—no exceptions. Weapons of any kind are prohibited at all times, and although you will experience combat daily, there will be no tolerance for excessive violence. The government has decreed that _any_ sign of even the slightest bit of criminal activity from any one of you will have you returned to exactly where you came from. Is that clear?"

Shouhei gulped nervously and nodded his head. _He wouldn't go back there again. He _couldn't _go back there again. Never._

"Good. Eh…honestly, that's all, I think. Again, the rules will be written and sent to you later, assuming you're all still here after the practical exam—which I do think you all will be—so be sure to review them frequently." Hijiri looked up at the ceiling, as if debating whether or not to continue, and then finally sighed and fixed them with a steely gaze. "Listen. I won't lie to you. _You are all on a very thin line right now._ Things are risky for you, and for us, and one wrong move could have this entire thing shattering to pieces. But I hand picked every single one of you because _I saw the possibility for good in all of you_, and now, I can only hope that I have made the right judgement call. **The rest is up to you. **_**Prove yourselves. **_To me, to the people who have wronged you, to the people who _love _you, to the world—_to yourself._ Right here, right now, I am handing all of you your second chance—your silver lining. Grab it tightly and use it to pull yourself up with everything you have because _you won't get another one._ Act wisely. _**I believe in you**_**.**"

There was a moment of stunned silence that emphasized the low hum of the air conditioning, and Shouhei could feel his heart pounding loudly in his chest. _That was… _He swallowed thickly. _That was possibly one of the most touching things he'd heard…even his _parents _hadn't expressed that much raw trust in him before._ Somehow, he really didn't want to let the man down.

"And?" A girl interrupted the mood impatiently, "What does this have to do with the practical exam?"

"Oh it doesn't, I just felt like saying it," Hijiri smirked. "It was important for all of you to hear it at least once, even if you don't believe me."

"Then," Nadeshiko swallowed, and Shouhei had the feeling that she was choking on emotions a bit the same way he was, "will you go over the rules for the practical exam now?"

"No. There's no need for that."

"…eh?"

"I really don't know why Haruko insisted I do this now, but well, I guess it's good motivation," Hijiri commented, a bit too nonchalantly for Shouhei's comfort. "The only rules that still apply are no excessive violence and no crimes. This is primarily an exam to gauge where you stand right now and to determine whether or not you're ready for this school and this program, so it's especially important to make your decisions wisely for the duration of it. The exam itself is pretty straightforward though; just keep moving, follow your instincts, make the choices that you think are right, and it'll lead you through the rest of it itself. You'll be done within 30 minutes~"

"Um, sensei, I don't think—"

"Well that's that, good luck to all of you! Ai-chan will lead you to your destination! Toodleloo~"

The door slammed shut, leaving the entire class still seated, bewildered. Then there was a crackle before the digital screen lining the wall in front of them switched on, and an AI cybergirl appeared on screen, dressed in a white tracksuit with pink stripes down the sides, her brown twintails tied with cute pink ribbons similar to Nadeshiko's. The AI smiled brightly and said cheerily, "Hiya~! I'm Aina but you can call me Ai-chan; I'll be your security and support AI for the year! I'll also be closely monitoring your exam, and if there are any violations or severe injuries I'm the one who will report them and have you withdrawn immediately, so please keep that in mind, okay~? Now, please follow this staircase underground so that we can start our Silver Class practical exam as soon as possible!"

Shouhei was just about to ask reflexively _what staircase where _when the wall suddenly cracked open and slid apart, revealing a smooth set of marble stairs dimly lit by a bluish LED light lining the ceiling. It was impossible to tell where the stairs were leading to. The whole thing was a bit sketchy, and if Shouhei had stumbled upon this somewhere by himself, he probably would have pretended he never saw it. As it was, he swallowed nervously before gathering all his courage, _he could do it, he _had _to do it, _and followed his new classmates down.

_He wouldn't fail again._

* * *

"**Ahem~! Ah, testing, testing~ Now then!**"

_Aina's laughter sounded like tinkling bells as it echoed through all of the speaker systems hooked up around the school._

"**Let Shinraikai's first official entrance exam hereby COMMENCE~!**"

* * *

_**A/N:**_ _Okay, so this is _way _overdue, and I owe all of you an apology._

_To be completely honest, this story came with an unexpected amount of stress, which is something I'm kind of bad at handling. It's a character fault of mine, I'm aware. But mixing together the circumstances that happened in the real world directly following my posting and the various issues I was having while sorting out the characters, this story had me so concerned that I literally had trouble sleeping at night. I almost wasn't sure if it was worth continuing for a while. But I couldn't bring myself to quit in the end, because that would be unfair to all of you, and because I have so many ideas for this story that I want to see come to life. So I will do my best to keep moving forward, but I cannot guarantee that this will not happen again. I will admit that I am probably better at planning stories than actually writing them, and I have trouble handling pressure and expectations sometimes. I apologize for that, and for the delay, and I hope that this chapter is at least a little bit worth the wait. Thank you for your patience, I will continue doing my best moving forward to make this both a fun and successful story._

_I should mention here that I don't have an official beta (and to be honest, I am not looking for one either), so I apologize for any mistakes that you find. That's why I'd like to once again thank my wonderful senpai __**heartattak**_ _and __**Monty's Cloudy Day**_ _for helping me out with this story so much and assisting me with ideas the whole way through._

_I'd also like to warn that I haven't kept up with the manga for a really long time now. I'm basically running off of anime knowledge from the first three seasons, as I have watched those probably ten times over by now and reliably know it off the top of my head. I watched the fourth season once. Everything else I will be using a creative license for and effectively BSing, so some things will misalign with canon, such as Tsukauchi's Quirk as one reader kindly pointed out. These changes usually don't mean anything particular in regards to the story; it's usually just that I can't remember properly._

_Thank you to everyone who submitted, even though it has been 3 months since then, and I apologize to anyone who didn't make it in. I will open villain forms possibly after the entrance exam arc, both to ascertain that this story will last at least that long and because that is when they will be needed._

_I'd also like to give special thanks to __**nerfherder-han**_ _and __**ExusiaiApplePie**_ _for offering to make me characters last minute when I panicked about not having enough Gold Class girls submitted._

_Thank you all so much for your support! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, and if your character made it in this chapter, be sure to tell me how I did with them! See you next time!_

_Chikage_

_PS. Moving forward, I will be keeping a word count of my current progress for the next chapter on my profile if you ever want to check up on that!_


	4. Entrance Exam I

**Entrance Exam I**

* * *

_This, _Aozaki Hotaru scowled to herself slightly, _is ridiculous._

She'd wondered what they had meant when they had said that their placement would be randomized. This wasn't a video game of some kind where they could just spawn on the field. The simulation joint was a _dome_, and they all had to walk in by themselves to their starting position somehow. It would make the most sense logically for them to all start in the same place, at a starting line of some sort, but it was clear that this school wasn't about to do that. Even if they led them inside to a starting position, some of them would be able to memorize the route they take and scout out the area ahead of time, and it would take far too long. So that begged the question of _how _they were going to randomize the starting position…

…and out of all of the possible answers she had come up with, _via sky gondola _had not been one of them.

She thinned her lips, eyeing at the large gondola sitting in front of her with thinly veiled disgust. It was a large carriage-like box made of steel, the windows darkened likely to prevent them from looking outside. Her four…_teammates _had already climbed inside eagerly, and it was clear that there was more than enough room inside for all five of them. Still, she glanced warily at the top of the gondola, where it was hooked through what she assumed was the sky rail, and then followed the rail to where it _ended._ It barely snaked its way over to the cliffside and then abruptly stopped, and although she wasn't a mechanic by any means, she knew that wasn't safe.

"Don't worry!" Aina's voice popped out of nowhere, and she startled before glancing down at her wrist, where the smartwatch was looped firmly. The cybergirl was even smaller on the digital screen of the watch as she gave Hotaru a reassuring smile. "The tracks will install themselves after you have all boarded!" She shifted to the side, and Hotaru watched impassively as a video played, showcasing the gondola door sliding shut before the ceiling of the dome opened up and various tracks dropped down, hooking themselves to one another and the gondola in a complex pattern. The gondola then slid safely across the rails, and the video was gone in the next second, replaced by the close-up of Aina's face. "This way students can't attempt to predict their landing spot and it's fair for everyone! I will be running the controls, so don't worry, you won't fall—you won't even feel a thing, I promise!"

Well, there was no getting around it, she supposed. Still skeptical, she climbed inside and seated herself right next to the door, which closed the moment she had settled.

The school was alarmingly trusting of its security and safety. While she had initially appreciated the state-of-the-art technology, she was starting to have some doubts. Even technology was known to malfunction, and yet the school had yet to acknowledge them. They may have had an AI on their side, but in the end, an AI was only data, and the lack of human control made it even riskier. While she was more than aware of Shinraikai's sponsor Anzen'naie's reputation in all things tech-related, including having won an award several times for having the best cybersecurity forces, they still were not invincible, and she'd have preferred that they acknowledge the fact openly instead of denying it.

"Oh, we're moving! Whoa, this is so cool! I've never been on a sky gondola before, I wish I could see outside~ But well, it wouldn't be fair I guess. Ooh, this is smoother than I expected!"

Her teammate's loud, cheerful voice drew Hotaru's attention then, and she put the safety issue out of her mind and decided to focus on the task at hand instead. She had gotten the chance to speak with her teammates briefly before, but she took the time they had to analyze them again briefly.

If she was going to have to work with them, it would be best to gather as much information on them as she could before they started. They had done introductions earlier, but still, it wouldn't hurt to put her observation skills to further use.

She looked first at the silver-haired girl sitting directly to her right. She had introduced herself earlier as Tatsumi Mikita, and she held herself with a cold indifference similar to Hotaru's own aura. Her delicate figure didn't give away any clues as to her Quirk, but there was a certain glint to her grey eyes that told Hotaru she would be able to hold her own just fine in a battle. Those same eyes met hers right then and glared for staring too long, but Hotaru only returned the glare calmly before sliding her gaze to the left next.

To her left, on the other side of the door, was a boy with bright pink hair, his hands clasped in front of him and his eyes closed in some kind of prayer. He was named Tamotsu Karma (she had scoffed internally a bit at the sheer ridicule of the name upon hearing it), and there was something about him that consistently rubbed her the wrong way. She remembered the way that he had opened up the strategy meeting by offering them all a piece of strawberry candy, and the way that he'd maintained his optimistic smile when she'd given him her best stare of utter disappointment. The way he carried himself differed drastically from his muscular build. As if sensing her gaze on him, Karma opened his eyes right then, and then gave her that same, kind smile and a small but cheerful wave. (She didn't so much as acknowledge it, obviously).

Then, lounging in one corner of the gondola casually, was Kazama Haru, his posture lax and his face clad with ridiculous sunglasses. He was smirking to himself and humming a random tune pitchily, his finger tapping against the metal bench steadily and not at all in line with his humming. Truthfully, Hotaru's expectations for the boy weren't high, but there was an aura of confidence about him that allowed her space to be wrong.

And then…

With a hint of reluctance, Hotaru turned her attention to their final team member, and likely the one that she disapproved of most. _Riri_, full name undisclosed (having simply introduced herself with a peppy "I'm Riri! Nice to meet you!"), sat swinging her legs childishly as her bright eyes roamed around the gondola curiously. She was dressed far too _cutely_ for what she was here for, even if they were athletic clothes. Additionally, this was the girl that had basically strong-armed the five of them into becoming a team, approaching them unhesitatingly with a cheerful beam fitting for that of a social butterfly as she appeared to be, and promptly announcing that the reason she had sought them out was due to _gut instinct._ While Hotaru could acknowledge that the girl clearly had some hidden strength to her deceptively fragile form—she hadn't missed the extra bounce to her step that clearly had to do with her Quirk or the way she had habitually slid into a defensive martial art stance more than once—but that didn't mean she had to _like _the girl.

Hotaru wasn't here to make friends, after all.

The door cracked open right then, startling her, and she realized as she climbed out that Aina had been right, as loathe as she was to admit it—she'd barely felt a thing.

Her foot came down on soft grass, and she took one look at her surroundings and immediately frowned distastefully.

"We're here!" Riri cheered as she immediately took off in a hyper series of bounces around the grassy clearing surrounded by forestry.

"…_you_."

Riri turned at her call curiously, and Hotaru's gut twisted uneasily at how quickly the girl's magenta eyes lit up with realization before she said casually, "It's all right, take your time! My full name's Miyabishi Ririka, so you can refer to me however you're comfortable with!"

There was a faint noise behind her as Mikita echoed faintly, "Miyabishi?"

"Yep! That same one!"

Hotaru assumed they were referring to the famous Miyabishi Law Firm. She briefly wondered what the daughter of the two who were possibly _the _most famous lawyers was doing applying to a hero school, but she discarded the thought as quickly as it came because it wasn't important. They had to _focus_.

"Miyabishi," She interjected. "Kindly refrain from messing around. The exam has started, and we should move forward as swiftly as possible lest there are no more points to be found."

"Hm…all right, I guess you're right! I'll do some scouting then, so we can get started!"

Hotaru had barely processed the words before the blond was taking off in a running start straight at them, no hesitation in her step and a mischievous glint to her eye. It was a reflex that had Hotaru stepping out of the way to let her pass by, and she noticed that their other teammates had all moved aside too, Haru included.

Riri swiftly took advantage of the newly opened area between them and threw herself in the air, completing three kangaroo hops that increased in height with every jump. Hotaru noticed the way the grassy floor caved at her feet, providing her with an elastic platform that propelled her upward. Her final jump had her shooting through the air, and she reached out with a perfect gymnastics form to grab the tiny bottom ledge on the door of the rising gondola, which was now level with the tops of the trees. She swung herself forward without hesitation, throwing herself under the gondola in a circular arc and using the momentum to flip onto the roof.

It was only a few seconds later that she seemed to have finished her perimeter scan and, despite being about a story high by then, leaped off fearlessly, even turning a flip midair. The ground appeared to catch her as she fell again, pooling perfectly around her feet and allowing her to turn a perfect backflip and land with a tiny bounce, having successfully broken her fall and secured her landing.

"You have an elasticity Quirk then," Hotaru noted.

Riri spun around to face them again with a cheerful grin and a chipper "Yep, basically! Or a trampoline Quirk, as I like to call it!"

**Miyabishi Ririka!**

**Quirk: "Trampoline Park!" This ability allows her to turn the surfaces in her immediate vicinity into an elastic trampoline-like substance! The smaller the zone of change, the longer the transformation time!**

_Hm, _Hotaru thought. _Not too flashy and not all that powerful overall, but it's clear that she knows how to use it. The flips were highly unnecessary though._

"If we cut through the trees this way—" Riri started, pointing to a cluster of trees to their right, but she was interrupted by a loud crackling noise that had them all turning their attention upward.

* * *

"**It seems like everyone has safely landed~**" Aina's voice chirped across the speakers. "**You have thirty minutes**—**starting…NOW! Good luck everyone!**"

* * *

_Thirty minutes to do _what? Kunitaro Tooka thought to herself irritably. _And where the hell has this ridiculous mechanic death trap escorted me to?_

Unfazed by the complete darkness, she stepped forward unhesitatingly, wanting to gauge her surroundings as best as she could. They were underground, she knew. The downward staircase had helped determine that much, at least. Beyond that, she didn't know. The moment they had arrived at a square room that looked straight out of a sci-fi film, complete with marble flooring and white walls that glittered colorfully in thin horizontal strips every so often, giving it a very digitalized appearance. There had been a large TV embedded in the wall at the front, where the AI had been waiting for them cheerfully. She had instructed them to line up in two rows at the front of the room, in accordance with the square tiles of the floor. The moment they had, the entire room had gone pitch black, followed by an instant trembling to the floor before she had been _moving._ She'd tried to keep track of which way they were turning, but the constantly vibrating floor had thrown any of her directional senses entirely out of whack.

And now she was standing in the middle of who-knew-where, with no light to—

As if to spite her, the dim blue lights in the corners of the ceilings flicked on again. She groaned in complaint, covering her eyes with her hands to give them time to readjust.

She squinted at her now visible surroundings skeptically. It was the same sci-fi worthy environment, complete with digitalized white walls and marble flooring, but this time it was a hallway instead of a room. She turned around and saw a dead-end behind her, and she scowled slightly. _This entire place must be run electronically. And from the way we were dropped off…It's a digitally created labyrinth, I assume._

There was nowhere to go except forward, and so she set off unhesitatingly. She wasn't afraid. Regardless of what happened, _it was impossible for it to be worse than what she had suffered through already._

_Click._

Her instincts took over and she leaped back. Then, in the most cliche fashion imaginable, an arrow whistled through the air right in front of her, from one wall to the next. _Ah, _she thought with a mild eye roll, _that's how it's going to be, huh._

Well, if they were going to be elementary, then she wasn't going to waste her time here.

She closed her eyes and released her breath, honing her other senses carefully like she had many times before. Then she took off, not an ounce of hesitation to her step.

_Swish. _Under another series of arrows.

_Thud. _Around the giant hammer (that had to weigh at least a ton) swinging down from the ceiling.

_Click._ Across the walls to avoid the small spike pit.

Just as Tooka was internally scoffing at the low quality of the traps, there was a sudden rumbling noise behind her. She risked a brief glance backward—and immediately broke out into colorful curses at the sight of the floor collapsing section by section. With a new speed set, she tore through the hallway at lightning speed, easily avoiding and deflecting the various movie-worthy traps that sprang up. It was barely a few meters later that she spotted a giant pitfall coming up, strategically placed right before a dead-end. She grimaced but continued her speed, not slowing in the slightest. Thankfully, it wasn't as big as it had appeared from a distance, and she easily cleared it with a single running leap. There was a small ledge before what she had previously thought was a dead-end but turned out to be a connector to a perpendicular hallway, and thankfully, the floor did not give out under her feet.

There was a rumbling noise then, and she barely caught sight of a flash of metal before something was shooting at her. Letting her instincts take over, she swiftly activated her Quirk and threw out a fountain of a blacksilver, crystallizing the metallic liquid into spears and impaling her assailant within seconds. She had only just processed the identity of the four-legged robot when she saw the spark.

Tooka recalled her Quirk quickly and rounded the corner of the hallway to put distance between her and the exploding robot.

**Kunitaro Tooka!**

**Quirk: "Blacksilver!" A unique metal that exists in a liquid state similar to Mercury, whose name it's own is derived from, is capable of being produced by the user's body and expelled through their pores! She can manipulate its movement and condense it into defined shapes! Not to mention, it's extremely combustible!**

The path before her was dark. She felt forward with her hands but didn't slow her pace, and a few moments later, the walls in front of her slid apart, shining light directly in her face. She winced, waiting for her eyes to readjust patiently.

The door had opened up to a room in front of her, she realized. It was a large circular room that was probably big enough to be a noble's ballroom, and it was completely white and empty of all objects, as the entire sci-fi-esque area had been.

She stepped into the room cautiously. It was empty, but she refused to let down her guard. Regardless, nothing seemed to happen even as she made her way to the middle, aside from the entrance closing behind her and leaving her trapped inside. She thinned her lips and gave the room a critical once-over. _Am I supposed to wait for something to happen…? But if it was going to be a surprise attack, it would've been more effective if they'd triggered it the moment I stepped in the room. That means…don't tell me…_

The wall slid open again just as the thought struck her, and it took all of her restraint to stop herself from attacking the figure standing behind it. That didn't stop the boy standing behind it from flinching back horribly, his hands coming up to protect his face in a practiced reflex. Tooka felt her heart skip a beat at the way he looked so familiar in that instant—with the messy mop of black hair, that meek figure, _the way his entire being just screamed something fragile_—but she mercilessly squashed the feeling in the next minute—because _**no, **__this wasn't Obi_—**Obi was dead and he wasn't coming back.**

Tooka's throat was dry when she swallowed again. Still, she took a step back and held up both her hands to show that she meant no harm. It took the boy a few more moments to lower his arms, fearful gold eyes peeking out from behind his fringe, and he studied her warily for a second before murmuring a quiet "excuse me" and hesitantly stepping into the room. The walls slid shut behind him, startling him again.

Thinking clearly now, Tooka recognized him from their short debriefing in the living room. It took her a moment because he had curled up in the far corner away from everyone else and she'd barely spared him a glance, but looking at him more closely now, she had to admit that she had no idea why such a kid would be here, in a reform program of all places. He looked far too skittish to have committed such a big crime that would have warranted prison time. Even now, she watched as his gaze traveled uneasily across the large open space of the room, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

Deciding that just standing there would be boring, Tooka called out a rough but gentle, "Hey."

Tooka frowned upon watching him flinch again upon being addressed and thought absently, _Wow, this is one traumatized kid. What did they _do _to him?_

"O-Oh, um, hello…" The boy murmured at a volume that was barely audible.

"Is it alright if I come closer?" Tooka asked cautiously, and she waited until she received the nod of approval before moving, making sure to still put plenty of space between them. She didn't miss the way the boy tensed with every step she took. "It seems like we're going to be working together, as much as I hate it. I assume we'll be getting a third, too, at least, since there were fifteen of us…well, whatever. We should probably do introductions while we wait. Not like there's anything better to do. I'm Kunitaro Tooka. And you?"

The boy's gaze flickered up at her nervously and then back down to the floor again as he answered, "Mitsuki…just…Mitsuki is fine…"

"Okay," Tooka acquiesced easily. "You can call me Tooka then, too." A moment of awkward silence passed before him, and she realized that the tiny nod was all she was going to get from the other boy. She let out a long-suffering sigh as she realized she was going to have to steer this conversation if she wanted it to happen.

"S-Sorry," Mitsuki shifted at her sigh. "I mean…it's…um, it's nice to meet you…Tooka…san?"

"There you go," Tooka encouraged with a slightly teasing smile. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I…I guess…?" Mitsuki mumbled and went silent again.

Forcing him to speak again when he was clearly so uncomfortable just seemed cruel, so Tooka opted to let a slightly awkward silence settle over them instead. She eyed the kid with a mild frown—he really looked so frail, she genuinely wasn't even sure how he'd cleared the booby trapped corridor so quickly and without a single scratch, but there was still something about him that set her on a slight edge. Mitsuki seemed to cringe under her gaze, however, so she reluctantly turned her attention to the empty room instead, suppressing the sigh that threatened to escape.

The silence persisted for another minute or so, and Tooka was just starting to get annoyed when the walls slid open again. She gave the blue-haired boy standing behind them a critical once-over, and she could tell that he was doing the same to her.

He was…similar, in some ways. He carried himself with an aura that strongly reminded her of her own: with a powerful presence and a clear confidence that made people second guess crossing them. It was something that often came with growing up in the streets or in other places of questionable safety, she'd found. There was something dark lingering in the boy's emerald eyes—a hungry, lingering look of someone who had fought to survive.

But then he opened his mouth, and any sympathy Tooka had felt immediately went out the window.

"Oh. Are we working as a team then?" The boy asked casually, heading towards her with his hand outstretched. The door closed behind him, but neither of them paid any attention to it. "I'm Ketsu Hisoka—"

Tooka slapped his hand aside with an annoyed eye roll. "You can drop the facade, it's not helping your first impression." The boy gave her a look of mild confusion mixed with a dash of irritation, and she scoffed. "Don't act so surprised. I've met enough fake people in my life to tell them apart."

"Tsk," Hisoka clicked his tongue in a clear sound of irritation. "Well excuse _me _for actually trying."

"You're not trying because you actually care, you're trying because you think it'll make you look better in the exam," Tooka retorted.

"Fuck off, you don't know shit," Hisoka scowled. "Who the fuck are you, anyway? You already know my name—"

"Not that I asked," Tooka muttered, but since they probably had to work together anyway, she reluctantly continued, "Fine, whatever. Kunitaro Tooka. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but well."

"What's your fucking _problem?_" Hisoka spat out, a clear flare of anger lighting up his eyes. His body was tense, and he was clenching a fist like he was going to attack her, and honestly, all she could think was '_good luck with that._'

"With you? Nothing personal," Tooka said sarcastically. "I've just seen too much trash in my life to further indulge Barbies made of cheap plastic."

"_You—_"

_Crunch._ Hisoka stepped forward with a slight tremble of fury to his fist now, and there was just the slightest hint of a red glow around him. The ground cracked ominously under his foot, likely leaving a perfect footprint in the marble flooring. Tooka briefly wondered if he had some kind of strength augmenting Quirk, but she was unable to dwell on the thought for long, instead watching cautiously for any signs of violence—

There was a slight tug on the back of her shirt, and she abruptly remembered that they weren't alone.

Hisoka stopped as well, eyes catching on the figure hiding behind her and lip curling in a sneer. "And who are _you_?"

There was a familiar protective instinct rising within Tooka, and she reached back to pat Mitsuki on the head without taking her eyes off of Hisoka. (Mitsuki's flinch did not go unnoticed, unfortunately). Before she could say whatever scathing remark came to mind first, Mitsuki spoke for himself. "S-Sorry, um…I'm Mitsuki…"

If he had anything more to say, he was cut off by Hisoka's loud scoff. "You look like a fucking _kitten, _why are you _here?_"

"I, um…" Mitsuki looked at the floor, moving to hide behind Tooka just a little more. "It was an accident…"

Both Hisoka and Tooka frowned in confusion at that, because "_what kind of accident would have a kid like you ending up _here—" but they were cut off by a shrill scream.

Tooka immediately tensed, her gaze spinning in the direction of the noise just in time to see the walls slide open again, providing them with an exit. The blood-curling, pained screaming didn't stop, and Tooka could feel goosebumps cropping up on her arms.

"I guess we go that way then," Tooka muttered. Not wanting to stay put any longer, she swiftly set out in that direction. "Let's just get this over with."

After entering the corridor, she impulsively turned to check that Mitsuki was following, since she could still feel Hisoka's glare on the back of her head but had no signs from the skittish boy. Sure enough, Mitsuki's gold eyes blinked back up at her from right behind her, and she felt like she was with her beloved baby brother again as she reached out to pat his head reassuringly. Her eyes met Hisoka's as she started to turn back, and she rolled his eyes at the anger still clearly flaming in his eyes. Not wanting to blow things up between them again but also still feeling spectacularly salty, she couldn't resist the temptation to flip him the middle finger, and she almost laughed at the speed that he returned it with two.

All in all, she could've had a worse team, she figured.

* * *

Dokei Daigutso (better known to his friends as Doki) wasn't sure what it was that he did to deserve to be surrounded by absolute _morons, _but it must have been something absolutely atrocious.

"Is this a fucking joke?"

The white-haired albino on his team, Wamizaki Reiden, looked startled at the accusation. "What? _No, _why would I joke—"

"How could she get fucking _lost?_" Doki snarled. "Is she fucking five or something? Do we need to keep her on a damned baby leash? It's barely been five minutes—I didn't sign up to fucking _babysit,_ I'm here to take an _exam._ If Pinky can't even so much as _stick with the damned group _then she might as well fail. We're already falling behind as it is, as if we can spend any more time doing something as fucking stupid as going to _look _for her."

There was a frustrated glint to Reiden's eye, but he tried to keep his voice calm as he argued, "Saionji mentioned earlier that she had a bad spatial awareness. It's not her fault—"

"Oh? Isn't it?" Doki sneered. "If she's fucking _aware _of it, then she shouldn't have run off like that to begin with. She's already dragging us behind as it is—she can't even fucking _fight._ I'm not going to fall behind in this exam because of a _deadweight_—"

"We're not _behind_, we're doing well. We still have lots of time, we can pass this exam without—"

"_**Passing it isn't enough**__!_" Doki exploded, shooting to his feet and storming forward. The albino backed away under his fierce glare. "You might be willing to settle for mediocrity, but that's not why I'm fucking here. I'm here to prove a point, and I'm _not _going to let you _useless buffoons _drag me down with you in the name of _teamwork _when I could probably get first in this entire exam _by myself_."

"Dokei, listen—"

"No, _you _listen, you bleached shithead! I'm not going to fucking _**lose**_—"

"_It's not a competition!_" Reiden insisted, his tone far too patronizing for Doki's rising anger.

"_Everything _is a fucking _competition_, and this most of all." Doki growled, a low sound of fury in the back of his throat, and then finally spun around and began to storm off. "Fine, what the fuck _ever_, I'm not wasting my time here. You all can do whatever the fuck you want, I've got better things to do like actually _pass _this shitty exam—with the highest marks."

"Dokei, wait—"

"You all can stop being dramatic now, I think she's back."

It was with a hint of reluctance that Doki stopped, whirling around to turn his glare at his other teammate, Shishikawa Jin. The boy merely gave him a nervous smile and pointed to his left. Doki shifted his gaze just in time to see a short pink-haired figure rushing towards them, a clear look of panic, relief, and guilt on her face.

"I-I'm so sorry," Saionji Ayana panted. She pulled to a stop next to them and bent over, clearly out of breath. "I…I swear I didn't…I…there was…a villain point…and I wasn't looking…where I was going…and I kinda just…"

"Got lost?" Jin finished for her wryly when her voice died. She could only nod in response, fanning herself with her hand as she tried to recover her breath.

"Don't worry about it; what's done is done," Reiden said with a reassuring smile. "But you should be more careful next time."

"Yeah," Ayana nodded, guilt still plastered all over her face. "I'm…I'm sorry. I won't do that again."

Reiden nodded, satisfied. "Then that's fine. We should keep moving now…as a team, if that's alright with you, Dokei?"

All of the anger fizzed out of Doki in an instant, and he merely clicked his tongue with an absent glance to the side. "Yeah, okay. Let's go then."

Then, eager to keep moving, he turned and started off without another moment to waste. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and scowled again at the number displayed. It may have been a decent amount when compared to the amount of time that had passed, but _decent _wasn't good enough.

No, he didn't come here just to pass, and he certainly hadn't come here to be _decent._ This many points was nowhere near enough—not if he wanted to beat his sister. Which he definitely would.

He'd promised himself as much already, after all. He was going to be the best of them all—his sister and every single one of the students in the testing arena included. _There was no way he'd lose to anyone._

With a newly kindled flame of determination, Doki powered on.

* * *

There could not have been a worse location for the exam to take place at. The labyrinth was cramped, dry, and _underground, _and Fujimori Sekoia hated every inch of it.

The robots only made it worse. Like, she understood that it was the whole sci-fi aesthetic and everything that they had going on, but it was really _so bland_. But really, would it kill them to include a bit of natural life? She wasn't asking for much—not even as many as she had currently collected in her new room!—but even just having a spider plant here and there would've made her feel a lot better.

"Yeah, you've said that more times than I care to keep track of now. I don't know what you expect me to say—yeah, sure, let's all go become interior designers instead because forget this exam and forget the whole rehab thing, right?"

Sekoia could feel the large leaf on her head twitching.

And that would be her teammates. Well, that was only more fuel to her misery, she supposed.

She let out a sigh to make her annoyance clear and reluctantly turned to face their current obstacle. To her dismay, there were seven in the initial ambush, and there were _still _six now. Only the particularly gross-looking four-legged robot lay off to the side, smoking and sparking intermittently. The other robots all looked more like a shoddy attempt at a mini bulldozer, with wheels of various sizes and a single glowing red eye somewhere on the mechanical device.

Her teammates were both fighting, although one was notably more effective than the other. The annoying snarky girl named Hikara Nozomi was nimble but clearly not a heavy fighter. However, she took advantage of the narrow space of the corridor, weaving expertly in between the bulky pieces of heavy machinery, goading but not attacking. She was clearly doing something right, as one of the robots had a very misshapen back that appeared to have been smashed by something heavy, presumably one of the other robots.

On the hand, her other teammate Mahou Sagi was much more of a heavy fighter than she would have guessed from his obnoxiously gaudy dressing style (seriously, where did he even _get _that suit and why was he wearing it in combat?). Strangely, his right arm was entirely metallic, almost looking like it had come straight out of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise. He definitely hadn't had that when she had first met him, and it seemed to be made out of the same metal that the robots were, so it had to be his Quirk.

"Well if you needed help, you could've asked nicely," Sekoia scoffed as she stepped forward.

Nozomi paused to shoot her an incredulous look, a move that nearly resulted in her head being taken off. "Excuse _you_—"

"Teamwork is overrated," Sekoia announced as she pulled her arms over her head in a brief stretch. "_I can do it myself._"

Nozomi was now looking at her with a sharp glint of irritation in her gaze, clearly ready to snap, but that was still better than the indulging, tooth fairy worthy smile that Sagi was giving her. Ignoring them both, Sekoia detached one of the canisters of Super Plant Growth that she had thankfully taken with her from her overalls and sprayed it on the leaf on her head. The effect was immediate, as giant green vines lashed out at perfectly calculated angles in every direction, covering almost every inch of the crowded corridor. She narrowly avoided the spaces that her teammates were occupying, directing the vines along the walls and ceilings and even through the floor to reach where the robots were, taking them all out within an instant. A few sharp vines penetrated straight through the robots, while other vines wrapped neatly around other robots and essentially squeezed them to death.

**Fujimori Sekoia. Quirk: "Sprout!"**

**She's essentially photosynthetic, as the leaf on her head absorbs sunlight and uses it to boost her physical capabilities, including strength, speed, and regeneration! Additionally, with the right amount of sunlight, water, and Super Plant Growth, she can grow and control any kind of plant that she wants! However, she can't move while it's growing!**

Sekoia smirked to herself as she recalled the vines, the leaf bouncing back into shape on her head. Sagi whistled sharply from behind her, but she instead zeroed in on Nozomi's clear frown and, well, they might as well get this over with. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her overalls and challenged brazenly, "What? You have something to say?"

"Yes," Nozomi answered bluntly, "what the fuck is your problem."

Sekoia raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised at the other girl's aggressiveness. "A lot of things. That's why we all ended up here, right? You'll have to be more specific than that."

Nozomi rolled her eyes and pitched her voice a tone higher in a clearly mocking imitation, "'Teamwork is overrated, I can do it _myself._' Would it kill you to be at least a little cooperative?"

"I've done more than you have," Sekoia felt the need to point out.

"You also nearly impaled us while you were at it."

"I _didn't_, so what's your point?"

Nozomi's gold eyes flashed, and Sekoia was just preparing for the possibility of a fight when someone cut between them.

"Now, now, let's not fight amongst each other," Sagi interrupted cheerily. He moved to rest a hand on either girl's shoulder in a placating manner, but as a result of their height difference, his hand instead landed on Sekoia's head, barely missing her leaf. (His hand, thankfully, was back to normal). She twitched and ducked out from under him, giving him a flat look. Sagi met her gaze and simply winked at her, making her frown deepen. Undeterred, he pressed on, "If you look at it this way, they technically never directly told us that teamwork was a necessity, so we can use as much or little of it as we like. I, for one, think the three of us could make a great team, but it's not something we need to fight about, is it? More importantly, we should keep moving before we get ambushed here again. We can let the resolution to the teamwork/no teamwork debate happen naturally as we keep going, sound good?"

Sekoia hated his placating tone and his maintained attempt at a charming smile, and she hated his solution even more. She'd much rather they just go ahead and just get all this nonsense out of the way now—clearly she and Nozomi both had more things to say, why hold back?

In the end, her decision was forcibly made for her when _another _earsplitting shriek echoed in the corridor, signaling for them to hurry up. She released a huffing noise before pushing past them with a muttered "whatever."

She might as well get this over with fast, then. It certainly didn't seem like it was going to be a difficult exam at all.

* * *

The exam was far easier than Kazama Haru had been expecting it to be, especially considering how dramatic they made everything else to be: from the design of the school building to the sheer ridiculousness of the exam site to the existence of an entire _AI_.

No, for all the dramatics, the villain points and the rescue points were both alarmingly cliche—

"_Don't come any closer or I'll shoot! I'm warning you!"_

_Insert high pitched girly scream that was really rather creepy coming out of the mouth of the widely smiling teru teru bozu being suspended in the air._

—and incredibly easy to read.

Haru moved quickly, using the element of surprise to his advantage. The moment the villain started to turn, swinging the gun in its hand at an imaginary crowd with a violent desperation, Haru had closed the space between them with a single lunge. He forced the villain to maintain its momentum with a practiced shove against its arm and then delivered a sharp uppercut straight to the chin. In the next moment, the villain was gone in a burst of small glowing purple orbs. Haru sighed, watching boredly as the counter on his watch clicked up by one. He'd only encountered one-pointers thus far, and he was really rather disappointed by the quality. He hoped that he'd run into something stronger soon—something actually worth fighting. With any luck, he might even run into the Puppet Master they talked about.

But first…

Haru looked up at the _still_ shrieking puppet dangling from the second story window of a building. The windows were too far apart to climb, unfortunately, so he hoisted himself up the nearest tree instead. The window right in front of it was open, so it was easy for him to crawl into the building from there. The window that the puppet was at was thankfully in the same room, and it only took a few moments for him to untie the restraining ropes. The puppet disappeared into the same purple orbs as earlier the moment the ropes came undone, and the resulting silence was a blessing to Haru's ears. Not wanting to waste his time figuring out the layout of the building, he climbed back down from the same tree he'd climbed up on.

"Now then—" He said to himself, already scanning his perimeters for his next target.

There was a noise from behind him, and he whirled around with one fist already clenched, a grin slowly appearing on his face as he spotted the purple aura. It was already charging at him, so he waited patiently, mentally calculating the way the puppet drew its arm back for a punch, revealing an opening right—

_Bam!_

His silver-haired teammate suddenly rounded the corner and stabbed her elbow roughly into the puppet's head, throwing it down to the ground before stomping harshly on its back, letting it dissipate at her feet. Haru scowled at her and couldn't help but bite out, "I had that one."

Mikita's expression was unreadable as she nodded, "I know."

_Should've let me handle it then,_ Haru thought, but he didn't say it because he knew that the girl hadn't been trying to undermine him or anything. He was just sour because he was restless.

His displeasure must have shown on his face, however, as there was a chuckle before another voice added, "We're a team, we've got your back."

Haru glanced over to see Karma walking over to them, and from another angle a little further away, Hotaru as well. Realization dawned on him and he asked, "Has it been five minutes already?"

"Yes," Hotaru said simply as she approached them. "It seems splitting up temporarily was rather effective, we've gathered a lot of points. I don't see why we can't fight individually and each contribute points to the team that way…"

"It was boring though," Haru complained, "I only ever ran into one-pointers. What about you guys, did you see anything interesting?"

He'd expected the series of head shakes.

Karma frowned then, turning to look around as he asked, "Where's Miyabishi? Is she not—"

"I'm here, sorry! I lost track of time—"

Haru looked up just in time to see the blur of pink leap off from the roof of a five-story building, landing with a bounce that sent her flying back up so high that she turned an easy flip right over their heads before landing in the open spot between Karma and Mikita, balanced with both feet on hard floor, Quirk dormant. Riri grinned at them, not even the slightest bit out of breath.

_Showoff,_ Haru thought, which was immediately followed by, _That looks fun, I wish I could try that._

"We got a lot of points in these first ten minutes!" Riri cheered. "I think if we keep it going we can—"

"We should split up," Hotaru interjected. "Staying together to fight villains of such low ability will only hinder us, and we know that we are allowed to split up and still contribute points to our total individually now, so I don't see any reason not to utilize it."

Riri's smile faltered. "But—"

"I agree," Haru spoke up. He liked his teammates in general, but it felt a lot more efficient and satisfying to fight on his own overall.

Riri seemed to think about it for a moment, biting her lip nervously, but then, to Haru's surprise, she simply nodded. "If that's what everyone thinks is best, then we can do that—"

That was when the rumbling started.

Haru yelped as he suddenly lost his footing, the shaking of the ground beneath him so tremulous that he could feel the vibrations in his brain. He tried to stand but found that he couldn't, his sense of balance entirely thrown off by the sudden earthquake that he could barely even tell up from down. His teammates were all in the same state, from what he could see—and then he couldn't see, because a sudden fog was wafting between them, so thick that he couldn't even see his own fingers.

_What is going on?_ He somehow managed to stumble to his feet, but he was only thrown harshly onto his back with the next heavy tremor. _Was it an earthquake? Now? But why is there fog_—

As suddenly as it had started, the tremors stopped. Haru took a few moments to readjust from the horrible disorientation that was swimming across his brain and then pulled himself to his feet just as the fog was thinning as well. There was a strange noise echoing in his ears, and he looked at the road beneath his feet, half expecting it to start shaking out of nowhere again. It remained still, as if nothing had happened. Utterly bewildered, he looked around to study the equally perplexed expressions of his teammates and—

He froze.

"_What_…"

The other side of the road, which had once been filled with buildings of residence lined in front of a parking lot, had been entirely caved out. Instead, on the other side of the yellow dash line painted into the asphalt, was a _cliff, _with what appeared to be a river area several stories down. He realized now that the sound he was hearing was the sound of rushing water, and a step closer revealed to him the giant waterfall that was spitting water from the cliffside right beneath his feet. He was standing in literally the middle of a city street—_right on top of an actual waterfall._

"How…?" Riri gaped, equally stunned by the sudden view. "Where…?"

"**Ah, ahem~**" Aina's voice rang out across the speakers again, drawing their attention upward. "**Ten minutes have passed since the start of the exam, and the transition into Phase 2 has just been completed! If you have been separated from your teammates, it's unfortunate, but I'm afraid that that qualifies as a failed team play and you are out~ I said this earlier, but teamwork is important, everyone!**"

Haru could feel his heart pounding at those words, and he swallowed roughly. _Talk about close…if that's a rule, they should have told us beforehand…!_

"**With that being said, let Phase 2 commence~! It's a new day, with more people to rescue and stronger villains to fight! The temperature today is 20 degrees Celsius, with a wind speed of 30 miles per hour, so everyone please be careful and do your best to stay on your feet, okay~?**"

The thought of _With a wind speed of __**what**_ had barely crossed his mind before there was a clicking noise followed by the loud whirring of fans—and in the next moment, wind was tearing through the dome, nearly yanking trees from their roots and _very _nearly shoving Haru right off the cliffside and down the waterfall.

* * *

**[END ENTRANCE EXAM I]**

* * *

_Updated Quirks: Riri, Tooka, Hisoka, Sekoia, Sagi_

Shout out to **A.J. Aviary** who has also recently started a new BnHA SYOC, and it's really cool so y'all should go check it out~

A/N: Welcome to what is about to be the most mild but dramatic entrance exam in SYOC history, probably~ As this story is more along the lines of canon in terms of intensity (at least for now), I didn't want to make it too much haha. Although to be fair, this chapter is a lot more about showing character personalities and the conflicts within teams more than anything else, and to show how the entrance exams are set up, and show off some Quirks that will be important—anyway, not much action in this one~ (Hope that didn't make it boring hahaha—) Either way, it is a lot harder to trudge through as a result, and entrance exam arcs are hell enough as it is…Honestly, writing this chapter was like pulling teeth, ugh, I hate the flow of it but balancing both exams is really difficult and I wanted to cry so I'm just gonna get this out of the way and over with haha I hope it wasn't _horrible _at least UwU

So I'm not super interested in drawing this out very much, meaning don't expect this arc to be huge XD I imagine two or three chapters at most? But I can never say these things for sure because words get away from me too often so we'll just have to see~

Oh also, I'm trying not to spam you guys with Quirk descriptions? And I'm being very particular about how and where I'm putting them because otherwise it disrupts my flow too much, meaning I might have some shots where I make it very (or somewhat) obvious what the character's Quirk is and then go and fill in their Quirk name on my profile but not provide a description until later haha, like I did with Sagi and Hisoka here! I'll let you know if I do that (as you can see from my Updated Quirks tag) so you can take a look! :3

Anyway enough rambling from me, I hope you enjoyed the chapter~ (It took me under a month! _Is proud_. Hope I can keep this pace up!) As usual, thank you for reading, and I'd love to hear your thoughts! If your character was in this chapter, I'd love if you could drop me a review and tell me how I did~ But otherwise that's all from me this time around, thanks to everyone for your support~ See you all next time!

Chi


	5. Entrance Exam II

**Entrance Exam II**

* * *

**A/N: I am not sure if this is necessary, but I do want to err on the side of caution just in case. **

**Trigger warning: There is both a description of and talk about panic attacks in this chapter. I am not sure how graphic it comes across in my writing in the end, but I do want to say that it happens.**

**I'll talk more about future trigger warnings and everything in my endnotes, but please be aware of this moving into the chapter. Thank you, stay safe, and happy reading! I hope this chapter was worth the wait! :)**

* * *

"Yaho, how goes it, y'all~?"

Several heads turned at the sudden chirp from the doorway. With a cheerful snicker, pro hero Marionna gave a casual wave at the rest of the staff members settled in the monitoring room. The one person who didn't even flinch at her entry, head continuously buried in paperwork, was Haruko, that workaholic.

The woman standing closest to the door was the first to turn her attention away from the monitors, and Mari felt a mild spike of irritation at the bright glare that followed her movement. As if the woman weren't already bright enough herself, with her platinum blond hair streaked with rainbow dye and that blinding smile lined with perfect teeth, she had to be a whole diva and a half and flash the lights around her with it as well. Marionna scowled and rubbed at her eyes, resisting the urge to punch her coworker in the face.

"Ara, if it isn't Mari-chan," Pro hero Neon commented airily. "Aren't you supposed to be on the field?"

"_Myeh_," Mari shrugged. "It's too early, as if I'd let the boss battle take place anytime except phase three. Don't you have any sense of _drama_?"

Neon raised a slow eyebrow, and Mari had to bite back a smirk at the dead silence that followed the statement. The silence was broken ten seconds later with Hijiri's loud bark of laughter, and Mari reached over to give him a high-five before Haruko gave them a stern glare to break them apart.

Honestly, her senpai was such a killjoy, it was a wonder why she looked up to her so much.

"Anyway, how are the little shitheads doing so far?" Mari moved next to Neon and leaned closer to the monitors.

"Don't call your future students 'little shitheads,'" Neon scolded.

"I'll call them whatever I want, thank you—damn, did you turn down the wind speed already?"

"It was turning out to be too much of a hazard, so yes," Haruko answered succinctly.

Mari clicked her tongue. "Tch, amateurs—whoa, who's that punk?! Look at him posing like an idiot—where does all that baseless confidence come from?! He _sucks!_"

"_Mari!_"

Unperturbed, Mari watched with unmasked glee as the student in question smirked slightly before reaching next to him and, with a flashy show of Quirk usage, threw out his hands and forcibly levitated the one-pointer he was up against. As it floated in the air, he then commanded several large tree branches to strike against it in an attempted one-shot KO. Without giving it much thought, Mari snapped her fingers and the one-point enemy immediately turned into a three-pointer on the spot—a three-point creature that was at least two meters taller than it had been previously and packed with large, ominous limbs that had the branches immediately snapping harmlessly upon contact. The student froze in place for a moment, stunned, but then in the next moment took off running with a shriek of surprise as the creature lashed out in an attack, crushing five trees in one hit.

"Is that all? Have some goddamn finesse, will you?! If this is the level we have to work with then I'm gonna rage quit!"

"Mari," Haruko said in warning. "Stop breaking the rules."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, _killjoy_," Mari scoffed, but her irritation was immediately killed when something else on screen caught her eye. "Oh oh, who's that?! I like that kid, she's got hella spark. Can she be in my class?! Her team sucks though, cut the rest of them. You can do that, right? Of course you can, Miss Headmistress, please and thank you."

Haruko really needed to stop looking at her like that, it was getting old really fast.

Mari's attention was quickly drawn away at another piercing sound from the other side of the room, and she wrinkled her nose at the sight of the unfamiliar man sitting in front of the other set of monitors that must have been for the whole secret agent shebang or whatever it was Haruko had informed her about previously. It hadn't seemed to have anything to do with her, so she'd admittedly tuned half of it out, whatever. Still, she made her way over there curiously.

"Gosh it's loud in here—is someone getting murdered? Why is there so much damn screaming in here? Is that you? You don't look like you're getting murdered, what a shame."

Without even batting an eye at her, the silver-haired man answered flippantly, "Don't worry about that, I'm already dead on the inside. Med school does that to a person."

Mari barked out a laugh. "I don't know you, but I'm adopting you. What a _fucking. Mood_."

"I'm older than you, but all right." The man paused in his writing to hold out a hand. "Kusanagi Ayu. It seems we'll be working together, so I'll be in your care."

"Whatever, I don't care for introductions, you already know who I am anyway. You can just call me Mari," Mari answered flippantly. When he returned his gaze to the monitor, she followed it curiously. "So the fuck is happening here?"

"Well," Ayu paused for a moment, and Mari couldn't tell if it was for dramatic effect or if he really just needed to finish writing down whatever it was he was recording or both. Finally, he looked up and smiled mysteriously. "This is where things really start to happen."

"…why are you smiling at me like that."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I can _feel _you psycho-analyzing me, _stop it_—I take it back, I'm unadopting—disowning, I'm disowning you—"

* * *

_Are _all _girls like this?_ Mahou Sagi thought skeptically as he watched Sekoia and Nozomi continue to ooze hostility towards one another despite not talking. It was almost suffocating in the narrow corridor they were navigating, but Sagi figured that it was better than them actually going at one another's throats on the spot. _Well, at least they know how to prioritize._

"Why are you so slow?" Sekoia complained in a fairly chipper tone from behind him, even though her words were anything but nice. "There's nothing going on, so hurry up, slow poke!"

"It's called being _cautious_," Nozomi muttered. "You never know what might appear from around these corners."

"That only applies to you because you're _weak_," Sekoia scoffed.

…_okay, so maybe he spoke too soon._

"I can speed up a little," Sagi compromised.

Sekoia stared at him for a moment, her smile dipping slightly, and then huffed, "You know, I don't like your type. You're really annoying."

Oh, well that was new.

Still, whatever reaction Sekoia had been hoping to get out of him at that, Sagi was pretty sure he didn't give it to her, remaining completely unfazed by the declaration. Sekoia turned away with a small "hmph," clearly dissatisfied, but before she could keep talking—

_CRASH!_

Sagi leaped back on instinct when the wall in front of them was blown apart. Nozomi yelped when he nearly rammed right into her, as the corridor was too narrow to allow the three of them to walk side by side (they could squish if they really wanted to, but as expected, the two girls really did _not_, even with the lack of free movement it would have resulted in). Several strands of thick wire ropes lashed out at them from the darkness.

Sekoia retaliated first, briskly unhooking a canister from her belt and spraying it over the sprout on her head. Immediately, the sprout perked up and then flew outward in another vine attack similar to her previous one, smacking or tossing aside any falling debris before swiftly winding themselves around the incoming ropes tightly. It was only after they stopped moving that Sagi noticed the thorns embedded all over them, moments before said thorns ripped into the ropes mercilessly, effectively tearing the metal to pieces.

_She's strong,_ Sagi noted to himself, watching Sekoia as she slid a tongue over her lips in concentration and directed her vines towards the unknown assailant in the dark, possibly hoping to drag them out by force. _But that spray she's using…_ He glanced towards where the canisters hung at her waist, only to find them strategically devoid of any labels. _Is that the only thing that allows her Quirk activation? Is that just for right now, because it's a plant-based Quirk and there's no sunlight, or is it always…? Either way, it might become a point of concern if she runs out before the exam ends…_

And as for Nozomi…Sagi honestly had absolutely no clues as to her Quirk or her fighting abilities, only that she was somewhat capable of both but neither were particularly effective against robots.

The speculations barely took him two seconds, and he turned back around just in time to see a flame burst to life in the darkness. Sekoia gave a shout of surprise before withdrawing her vines, which were now burning from the end. She wrapped the vines together into one thick tendril, creating a bigger fire now that all the small ones had been combined, and right before the flames reached her head, the giant coagulation of the thorn vines suddenly dropped to the floor. They shriveled and dried the moment they were cut, which were immediately engulfed by the flames. Sekoia's frown deepened as the plant on her head bounced back into a simple sprout, looking at the flames with a clearly upset expression.

_Understandable that she'd be weak to fire, with a plant Quirk,_ Sagi conceded.

A robot came out from the dark, as expected—but it wasn't just any robot, it was _ginormous._ It stood at the full height of the corridor, covered with a black armor of some kind that did not look easy to pierce through, and no matter how hard he looked, Sagi couldn't find the source of the previous flames. That meant that it came from a mechanism inside the giant robot, and who knew how many more mechanisms it was hiding in there…

"We have to proceed carefully," He cautioned.

He should have known that wasn't going to work.

The words had barely even left his mouth when another spritzing sound echoed in the corridor, and then a flurry of thick brown roots spanned the corridor in front of them. They broke through the walls of the corridor on their march forward, and one particularly thick root aimed straight for the robot, splitting into several pieces right in front of it to form a root cage, effectively stopping it in its tracks. More roots began to tear at the robot's limbs, and although some loose pieces went flying, a majority of it remained unaffected—particularly the areas covered by whatever the metal plate was, which was probably all of the important parts.

"I'm going in," Sagi said suddenly, moving forward as he did. Since Sekoia's Quirk wasn't working, he figured it was time for him to step in, and close combat was his best suit. And he also wanted to see what the metal plate was made of, to see if he could use it.

"_No! Don't move_—"

Sekoia's warning call came too late, as Sagi had already easily made his way above, under, or around the roots as was necessary.

He didn't think too much about her statement at first, considering her whole '_teamwork is overrated_' claim earlier, but then there was motion from behind him. But then, from the corner of his eye, he could see another root attack shooting straight at him, without slowing down in the slightest and completely capable of crushing him with how big it was. It was instinct that allowed him to barely turn around on time, hand outstretched to defend himself.

The root came down primarily on his hand, and he felt something in his wrist crack at the pressure. But in the next second, before it could crush his body with it, it was gone. A chunk of the root had been hollowed out exactly where he stood. The small chunk behind him dropped to the floor, dead, and he had used the previous contact to push himself downwards and allow himself to duck under the remainder of the root.

Then, feeling his Quirk activate, his entire right arm transformed into a giant root exactly like that of Sekoia's, swiftly forming a large spider-web-like barrier in front of him that parried all of the other incoming roots. Figuring the roots could stretch for quite a distance, given Sekoia's attacks, Sagi landed on the giant robot that was still caged by Sekoia's roots with a single leap.

The robot was already sparking dangerously, and if he didn't act quickly, it wouldn't be long before it was at a level where it could quickly electrocute him. Not wasting any more time, Sagi pressed his normal left hand down against the black metal plate, swiftly absorbing a large chunk and wincing at the electricity that burned his hand at the integration. He smoothly shaped his left arm, now made of the exact same metal he'd absorbed, into a spear point and stabbed straight down. The metal pierced easily, with the robot having had a large chunk of its protective armor stolen, and once Sagi felt it penetrate, he reshaped the form of his arm to strike outward in many locations as possible. Several sharp tips of metal spikes could be seen protruding just barely outside the robot in various places, and he could feel several wires and devices being ripped to pieces. He pulled his arm back into a smaller but bulkier shape, one that was shaped somewhat like an arm again, and leaped back off of the robot only seconds before it exploded on itself.

Sekoia had stopped attacking, he noted, her sprout back to its miniature form on her head. He shrank the size of his root-formed arm and ejected the raw material back out, wincing slightly as the pain of his broken wrist came back to him. The root chunk dropped to the floor with a soft thud, where it immediately shriveled up.

**Mahou Sagi!**

**Quirk: "Integration!" This ability allows the user to absorb any tangible matters and then take on its properties! He can have up to a total of 5 materials making up his body, and they don't have to be equally distributed! However, by absorbing a particular material, he takes on all of that substance's strengths and weaknesses as well!**

_Sfzzz._

_Slap!_

Sagi didn't even have time to react before something smacked him right across the face, nearly sending him flying across the hallway. But something else wrapped around his ankle and yanked him harshly through the air, and he didn't think twice before transferring some of the metal from his arm to his leg to slice off the offending object using a sharp edge. He dropped to the floor, returning his leg back to normal and shifting his arm back into a metal blade for offense, right in front of a very pissed off Sekoia.

"_How. Fucking. Dare. You._"

Sekoia had appeared fairly displeased from the moment Sagi had met her, but even then, she'd retained a rather cheerful and careless disposition throughout, even if it might have come off as obnoxious to some others. But regardless, there was no comparing that to the current fury burning in her eyes, one that told Sagi he had done something very unacceptable.

"Who do you think you are to just _rip_ my precious plants from me, use them _against _me when they're made of the same cells, and then _discard _them like trash the moment you don't need them?" Sekoia seethed. "Have you no fucking _respect _for nature? Even if it weren't me, you can't just _destroy_ a plant like that, Quirk or not! It's not the same even if you reproduce it or whatever shit it is that you do—nature is grown with _love _and _care _and _you don't get to fucking trample all over that, you hear me?_ Much less _tear out a chunk of something that is growing from my garden_—_I should tear one from you as payback and feed it to my plants to make up for what you stole._"

Oh, Sagi realized, she hadn't been afraid of the fire earlier. _She'd been sad to have to cut off her own plant._

He'd underestimated the extent of Fujimori Sekoia's passion, it seemed.

"I'm sorry," Sagi bowed. "I know this won't make up for it, but I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that I'd hurt you so much. But now that I am, I won't do it again, I promise. And when we finish the exam, I'd be happy to listen to hear more about nature and how to protect it, if you'd be willing, so that I can be more careful next time too."

That might have sounded like too much, and Sekoia clearly thought so too given her skeptical look, but Sagi was really completely genuine in his apology. It really was fascinating to listen to people talk about their hobbies, and Sagi did want to be able to uphold his promise to not offend her again next time he used his Quirk if necessary.

Despite her skepticism, the fire in Sekoia's green eyes had diminished slightly at his words. Sagi gave her his most convincing look, and she tossed her head before pushing around him. Her tone, although still laced with irritation, was a much brighter tone as she said, "That's not good enough, but whatever. Let's just keep going."

"So why did you attack Mahou?" Nozomi spoke up then. Sagi had almost forgotten she was there with how quiet she'd been, but he was relieved that she had seemed to understand the importance of that conversation as well and had chosen not to interrupt.

"It's not _my _fault. I certainly didn't expect him to jump right in my line of fire," Sekoia huffed. "Plants can't tell the difference between enemies and…_not _enemies."

"…allies, you mean."

"I meant what I said."

Sagi smiled wryly to himself as the two girls returned to something akin to banter, even if they wouldn't acknowledge it. As he moved to follow them, he ejected the metal piece from his arm as a small marble, tucking it carefully in his pocket.

_This could be helpful later._

* * *

There couldn't have been a better place for them to have been moved to. Just hearing the sound of the gently trickling water made Shokushu Kishi breathe out her first relaxed breath since the exam had started.

But she barely even had time to take in the unexpectedly scenic river in front of her before there was a loud splash and a tsunami of water was pouring all over her and her teammates. The water wasn't the only thing pulling them into the water, however, as she felt something wrap around her ankles and yank harshly.

Kishi wasn't sure what would have happened if the group to be captured had been anyone else—would they have drowned? The river was certainly deeper than she had expected, but she really hoped that wasn't the case. Either way, unfortunately for their attacker, the water was _her _domain.

Her teal eyes snapped open, completely immune to the sting of the surrounding water. Confirming the location of all of her teammates with a single glance, she flung her arms outward, feeling the natural transition of her human limbs into long, orange tendrils. She scooped them all up by carefully looping the tendrils around their waists. At the same time, the tentacles on her head expanded outward and curled around the long leaves of seaweed wrapped around their ankles. Kishi frowned when the seaweed refused to budge despite the relatively harsh tug applied, not wanting to injure her teammates but also not wanting to keep them underwater any longer when they were clearly all starting to struggle with holding their breath.

She eyed the giant seaweed monster settled comfortably on the riverbed. It stood several feet taller than her, shaped like a giant ball of tumbleweed and with only shallow holes for eyes, and it was slowly using the seaweed lassos to draw them in further. She used her tentacle to tug in the other direction as well but still to no avail. Just as she was debating whether she should simply dive in and untie them herself, unsure if that would work either, she felt a light but insistent tap against her right arm.

She turned to look at the boy who had introduced himself as Kazaru Takumi, who was making an obvious show of resisting her hold while being slightly squished up against Riku. Without hesitation, she released the hold she had on him and looped more firmly around Riku's waist instead, watching to make sure that Takumi didn't sink. As she did, she could feel her tentacles moving by themselves to counteract the new lashes of seaweed striking at them, but she could only let them move by themselves as she watched her teammate in a slightly disturbed disbelief.

Takumi had been a strange kid by appearance alone, with a face almost entirely devoid of any features: there were shallow dents in his skin where his eyes should have been but no actual eyeballs, he had an obvious lack of hair and a nose but possessed thin lips and sharp teeth curved into an eerie smile, and many of his features almost appeared to be elongated, including his ears, fingers, and body figure entirely. Riku had whispered absently that the boy almost looked like Slenderman, but Kishi hadn't paid it much attention. As someone with tentacle hair, she knew better than to judge someone by their Quirk-induced appearance, and it was hardly as if the boy's features were the strangest thing she'd ever seen. No one would ever top the middle school classmate that had had an actual manga-style speech bubble for a head.

But even his unusual appearance couldn't have prepared Kishi for the moment he put his Quirk in action—she winced and immediately looked away at the sight of Takumi unhesitatingly crushing his own fingers with his other hand. She glanced back in the next moment, however, quickly extending her tendril again and looping the tip cautiously around his chest to avoid him being dragged any closer to the seaweed monster. With an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, she watched as he carefully molded his hand as if it were clay and produced a grotesque product of a bone, blood, and muscle patchwork. She released him again to allow him to bend over to swiftly slice off the restraint around his own legs and around Riku's beside him using the sharp white parts around his fingers (that she assumed were bone).

He then gestured forward, and Kishi wasted no time in grabbing Riku's arm with a tentacle from her hair and carrying her teammate through the water to let him easily slice through the rest of their restraints with one slice. The moment the restraint around Mako's leg was released, she extended her tendrils above water to drop her teammates off on shore lightly.

The moment she knew her teammates were safe, she stopped resisting the rest of her transformation.

**Shokushu Kishi!**

**Quirk: "Kraken!" This ability allows her to change parts or all of her body into that of a giant squid upon coming into contact with water! The more water around her, the larger her form becomes! With enough water, she can even take on the form of the legendary Kraken from the myths! She's super strong in water!**

Feeling much more comfortable in the form of an orange giant squid, Kishi rocketed through the water, dodging the seaweed monster's attacks with a newfound ease and expanding her own tentacles to pierce through the monster's body. It barely took her a minute to mercilessly rip into the monster, dissolving it into a burst of purple orbs that disappeared moments after.

Satisfied, Kishi checked to make sure that there were no more underwater enemies before pushing her way back to the surface. When the head of her mantle first broke through the surface, she could vaguely hear shouts of surprise followed by Riku's hurried reassurances. She transformed back as she left the water, fixing her bandana back around her wiggling tentacles carefully.

She shivered when another gust of wind blew harshly against her wet skin and hoped she wouldn't get sick; she didn't have time to get sick.

"…Sh-Shokushu-san?!" Mako exclaimed in surprise. "That was you?!"

"Yeah," Kishi smiled. "Is everyone okay? Nobody swallowed water, right?"

"No, we're all fine, thanks to you," Riku answered.

"I couldn't have done it without Kazaru though," Kishi corrected. "Kazaru-kun, is your hand okay?"

Takumi gave the impression of blinking without actually having the eyelids to do so, and then he gave her a shark-toothed smile that looked as if it could have come straight out of a horror movie. "Absolutely. Happy to help, although it seems like you had it covered."

He gave her a casual salute with his deformed hand, still dripping blood across the rocks every other second. While her other three teammates could only stare at him with clear discomfort painting their features, Kishi simply returned his action with another grateful smile and nod.

"We should move on," Takumi said without addressing the rest of them, although he did give them what Kishi interpreted to be a rather impassive look, with the smile no longer present. Not waiting for a response, he moved forward determinedly.

Riku fell in step next to Kishi as the rest of them followed. "Thanks, Kishi, really. I don't know what I'd do without you here."

Kishi could only smile at her childhood friend reassuringly. Truthfully, she really didn't want to be here, but…

"I promised I'd always support you however I could, right?"

* * *

Hijiri whistled. "Not bad."

"_Myeh_, she's got tentacle powers, she has to be at least a little OP to qualify for anything."

Neon shot her a pained look. "And you wonder why people never ask you for your opinions—Mari, please _never _let her hear you say that."

Mari huffed. "Obviously, I have _some _tact, you know?"

Hijiri snorted at that, and even Haruko lifted her head questioningly. Mari just rolled her eyes, careless as ever.

"I just don't care enough to use it most of the time."

Well, all right, fair. If she hadn't had any tact at all like people thought, there's no doubt that she would've been burned alive by the media before her hero career even started.

"Hm~ Still, these kids are impressive," Neon commented as she returned her gaze to the monitors. "I'm pretty sure I didn't have this much control during my entrance exam."

Hijiri had been fully expecting a scathing remark of "_Hah! You call this control? These little shits are just flinging their Quirks around as they want_—_just you wait until I teach them what _real control _looks like" _from Mari, so the silence was rather unnerving. When he looked over at her, he was surprised to find her watching one of the monitors in complete silence.

Seeing which screen caught her eye, however, he wasn't surprised.

Even putting aside their clear individual strengths, there was something else about them that had caught both his and Haruko's eyes. Although the team had clearly had their disputes, they also functioned strangely coherently as a team when it came down to it. That was extremely rare for people who were meeting for the first time, and even more so for first-time combat students during an exam.

As they watched, a black-haired boy and silver-haired girl latched onto the roots of the giant plant monstrosity they were fighting when it tried to propel itself into the air to put some distance between its attackers. Clearly excited, Mari twirled a finger absently before anyone could tell her otherwise, and another vine on the monster twisted into existence before lashing out at the silver-haired girl. The boy next to her was seen yelling out a word of warning moments before the attack formed, but it appeared to be too late—until the vine attack passed directly through the girl harmlessly, as if she were nothing but an illusion. Her expression remained completely impassive but she gave the boy a short nod of thanks.

Hijiri whistled again. _It almost seemed like a permeation Quirk…didn't one of the kids at UA have a Quirk like that? But this one doesn't seem to be that simple_—_something about her clearly changed when that happened…_

He filed the thought away after resolving to search up the girl's profile later.

When Mari started directing more complicated vine attacks, the navy-haired girl on the team wasted no time in moving forward, launching into the air and encapsulating the plant monster in a giant blast of flames. The vine attacks stopped as they started to burn, and the pink-haired boy backed off to avoid the sparks flying around him.

"They'll get points off if that becomes a fire hazard," Hijiri mused to himself, eyeing their grassy surroundings skeptically.

Right as the words left his mouth, he spotted movement off to the side. Standing at the border of the forestry and the rock landscape not too far away, a pink-haired boy hefted a giant boulder over his head with ease. The boulder was easily twice the size of him and shouldn't have been something any human could lift, but Hijiri could easily assume from the markings across his skin that the kid's Quirk had something to do with strength enhancement. Then, with perfect aim, he pitched it through the air like a shot put.

The same time the boulder flew towards the burning plant monster, a pink blur catapulted out of a nearby tree top at the same time, matching the landing timing almost perfectly. Upon hitting the grass, the ground caved visibly under her touch and then the flaming villain point was suddenly rocketing through the air instead. It flew in a perfect arc, covering almost twenty feet before dropping directly over the cliffside and into the roaring waterfall, dousing the flames instantly. The villain point burst into a shower of purple orbs, and the girl cheered loudly.

"She made that look easy," Neon commented from over Hijiri's shoulder.

_She did_, Hijiri agreed, _but adjusting the elasticity so that you perfectly project what you want at such a calculated trajectory definitely requires a certain level of technique._

He snickered upon seeing the fire girl's lips form the words '_that was a highly unnecessary amount of work for three points,_' to which the trampoline girl pouted and responded '_but it was fun! I mean, we probably get teamwork points for that too, which is cool! Thanks for going along with it anyway, Aozaki-san!'_

"Not. Fucking. _Bad, _you little shits! Looks like I get to have some fun after all!"

They all startled at the gleeful exclamation. Haruko's head snapped up as Mari stormed across the room, alarm painted all over her features. "Wait, Mari—"

The door slammed shut.

Haruko groaned. "_Why did we hire her again._"

"We didn't hire her, she hired herself," Hijiri laughed. "You know how she is."

Haruko rested her head in her hands for a few long seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and picking her pen back up again to resume her speculations.

"It should be fine, there's only like two minutes until we switch to phase three anyway, let her be."

Haruko didn't respond, so Hijiri made his way across the room instead. "And how's it going for you?" He asked, dropping next to the man on the other side of the room, still monitoring the Silver Class monitors silently.

"Hm…well, I will say that you definitely have a good eye for these things," Ayu responded, tapping his pen against his clipboard lightly. He stilled suddenly and pointed, "Oh, right, I was wondering, is this kid who I think it is?"

"If you mean who I think you do, and that is the kid that Hijiri adopted without my permission, then yes, it is."

"Oh, come _on_, how long are you going to hold that against me—"

"For as long as it works, and that's probably the rest of your life because you actually have a guilty conscience no matter how hard you try to pretend otherwise."

Hijiri hated his sister sometimes.

(To the part of his brain saying '_no you don't, you could never_' in that snobbish tone that sounded vaguely like her, _shut up._)

Ayu chuckled at their familiar antics, breaking off the argument before it could escalate. "I see."

"Is he different from what you expected?" Hijiri asked curiously.

"No…on the contrary, he's pretty much exactly how I expected, and that's even more unfortunate. It seems like he's going to have a rough time here…"

"But you'll help him, right?"

"Of course, I'll do everything I can, to the best of my abilities. That's why I'm here after all. …ahhh, but as much as it pains me to watch, the current situation is out of my hands."

Hijiri glanced at the monitor in question and winced.

_Oh boy._

* * *

Mitsuki's fingers twitched helplessly.

He…he should be helping, right? He didn't know how well his reflexes would work in such a large scale battle, but…but he should've been doing _something_. He couldn't just stand there and watch as all his teammates did all the work, that would…that just—_no_. But then…what _could _he do? He didn't know how to fight against robots, or really fight at all technically, and his Quirk…

Well.

He scrapped that thought as quickly as it came.

_BOOM!_

Mitsuki flinched at the sudden explosion, his head whipping up to make sure that his teammates were okay. Thankfully, they were, both having been backed up so that they were barely in front of him and just out of reach of the sparking flames slowly eating its way through the digital corridor wall. Smoke filled the hallway, although thankfully nowhere near them (yet). Mitsuki felt a flicker of hope that any remaining robots had been destroyed in the explosion, but the glowing red lights piercing through the fumes followed by the clattering sound of wheels sent that hope sinking into his stomach immediately.

"Fucking hell, there's no end to this—" Hisoka swore loudly. "_Fuck,_ I can't even _see _anything—where the fuck were you aiming_?_ You _blind _or something?"

Tooka rolled her eyes. In a swift movement, she swept her hand out, throwing out another wave of black liquid to encapsulate the entire front row of robots charging at them. She made an exploding gesture with her hand and the liquid exploded upward in sync with it, spiking into sharp points and sticking out from the machines at all angles. A second wave of her hand saw to them all being hoisted outwards, where they exploded above the accompanying robots coming up behind them. "Oh suck it up, cupcake. You complain too much—"

"The place was small enough to begin with—now I can't see for shit. We had enough trouble getting through the hallway with the shitty ant swarm, and you just _had _to add a whole ass flame wall to the mix and destroy half the damn pathway, not to mention the fucking deadweight behind us—"

"_Don't_—"

A rumbling noise cut them both off.

Mitsuki swallowed thickly at the sight of the giant silhouette appearing through the smoke, a single piercing red glare informing them of its identity as it loomed over the narrow corridor ominously. When it entered the dim glow of the flames hanging off the wall, Mitsuki could see that it spanned the entire size of the corridor perfectly, rectangular sides only a few inches away from the walls and ceiling, rolling across the floor with giant wheels and a giant shovel in the front similar to that of a snow plow. The shovel scooped along the floor noisily, pushing all of the tattered robot pieces and debris to the side easily, where the wall opened up readily to swallow it before closing a second later.

With another crunch of metal, Hisoka rocketed forward, still enshrouded in a faint red aura and with his fist drawn back. As he neared the robot, however, he noticed the black coating covering the originally metallic outing. Remembering what had happened previously, he narrowed his eyes and gathered more energy in his fist—

_Kachik._

The side of the robot opened up, and he suddenly found himself headed straight for the barrel of a machine gun.

"_Fuck_—"

_Blam blam blam blam_—

With no chance to react, Mitsuki and Tooka could only watch in alarm as the boy was bombarded with a rain of bullets and dropped out of the air instantly, disappearing into the smoke.

"What the _fuck_, they call this an _entrance exam_?" Tooka snapped.

Mitsuki let out a terrified squeak, hiding his face in his trembling hands as he carefully inhaled to keep his breathing steady and—he stopped. "I…don't smell blood though…"

The whisper had barely left his mouth when another slot opened on the robot's side as the machine gun was retracted and a giant mallet head appeared—_where had they been keeping that thing_—slamming towards the ground right where Hisoka had fallen.

A loud cracking noise rang out.

Tooka's blacksilver faltered from where it was halfway there.

There was a brief flare of red followed by another cracking noise before the giant mallet head caved in on itself from the bottom. It quivered and ultimately lost the battle of strength as Hisoka pushed himself to his feet, crushing the giant metal mallet above him as if it were paper with one hand. Small drops of silver dropped from his body as he stood—Mitsuki couldn't quite see what they were, but they almost seemed to be melted metal of some kind.

"Are those…BB bullets?" Tooka muttered.

_What? _Mitsuki thought faintly, but there was no time to focus on that.

Hisoka snarled and yanked down on the mallet, ripping the head straight off of the handle and crushing it into a ball of metal about the size of a bowling ball. Then, with bludgeoning force, he pitched it at the giant robot's head.

_CLONK_.

The metal projectile barely even left a dent on the robot's black armor plate.

As if he had expected that, Hisoka lunged forward, his body still encased with a red glow, and smashed his fist directly into the robot's leg—piercing straight through the metal and intricate wiring alike. A hard yank outward ripped the metal slab on the side free entirely, causing the robot to tilt precariously before it sprouted another metal pipe from the side to help keep its balance.

Right as Hisoka moved to fully topple it, possibly by taking out its entire leg with an enhanced punch, there was a clicking noise behind him.

Out of the darkness, there had suddenly appeared a new wave of pint-sized robots all with similar armor platings—and each with a gun propped up and pointed at him. Neither Mitsuki or Tooka had seen them approach, and there was no time to react before the gunfire opened up again. Hisoka clicked his tongue and increased the density of the aura surrounding him—

Black liquid burst into existence around him, deflecting the incoming BB bullets with a density that should not have been possible.

Hisoka glared at Tooka so harshly that Mitsuki instinctively ducked behind her to hide from it. "I didn't fucking _ask_—"

_WHAM._

Mitsuki winced, hiding his head in his hands at the sudden impact. The giant robot had suddenly opened another metal slab on its stomach and produced a large metal shield, which it then rammed unhesitatingly against Hisoka's body.

Hisoka flew the distance between them, but when he slid to his feet next to them, he was entirely unharmed, with the red aura surrounding him a deep crimson and his footprints clearly imprinted in the floor.

He only gave Tooka another scathing look as he finished, "I didn't fucking _ask _for your help. As if something of _that _level could affect me—I had it covered."

**Ketsu Hisoka!**

**Quirk: "Tactikinesis!" This ability allows the user to emit a durable psionic field just a few molecules above the body that allows them to manipulate whatever it touches, including the person themself! They can manipulate their own body to give them an increase in their physical conditions, and it also acts as a full body shield against physical attacks!**

Tooka rolled her eyes, recalling her blacksilver with an absent wave of her hand. "I would say that a thank you would do too, if I didn't think it might actually kill you."

A flash of anger was seen in Hisoka's green eyes, but he only grunted and relented, "That armor is really annoying though, the fuck is that? That strike should've pulverized it on the spot."

"I've been trying to pry it off too, but it's not budging," Tooka agreed, and when Mitsuki peered around her curiously, he could barely make out the shape of black droplets seeping out from the top of one of the smaller robots. "We might just have to blow them up again."

"And you know that would work how?" Hisoka challenged.

"If I shove enough blacksilver through the gaps, then I can blow it up from the inside," Tooka said confidently.

_But then the explosion would be huge,_ Mitsuki thought to himself nervously, not having missed the way Tooka's Quirk reacted to fire.

"Are you trying to fucking murder us all?" Hisoka snapped, clearly having come to the same conclusion.

"I was _kidding—_"

She was interrupted by another round of gunshots. Hisoka activated his Quirk in a flash, letting the bullets pelt and melt harmlessly against him, while Tooka threw up another shield of blacksilver to defend both herself and Mitsuki.

Tooka's onyx eyes darted around her and then at Mitsuki briefly, before she set her mouth and lunged out from inside her shield determinedly. Mitsuki let out a noise of protest as she exposed herself to the gunfire while throwing out another stream of blacksilver, a confident glint to her eye.

The onslaught stopped, and Mitsuki peeked around the liquid shield curiously. Tooka's blacksilver had pushed its way into the barrel of each of the firing guns, and in the next instant, spikes formed in all directions from the inside. With a flick of Tooka's wrist, the blacksilver, now in the shape of pointy ninja stars, ripped through the guns forcefully, demolishing them.

Mitsuki watched, fascinated, as Tooka gathered all of her released blacksilver into one giant silver blob and meticulously shaped it into something akin to that of a javelin. She pulled her arm back to fire, clearly aiming for the biggest obstacle in the back—

_Thud._

The floor beneath them shook, causing her to stumble. Taking advantage of the opening, one of the smaller robots fired a giant clamp that wrapped around her wrist and yanked her forward. Tooka wasted no time in snapping her javelin in half and using the half to slice off the restraint in one stroke. The moment her feet touched the floor again, she shoved herself backwards, narrowly avoiding a strike from the second giant metal mallet that the big robot was flinging around.

The strike against the floor induced another corridor-wide tremor.

Meanwhile, one of the robots had come charging at Hisoka, but it was promptly demolished with a single enhanced punch. Hisoka then tossed the wreckage at another incoming robot in what seemed to be a casual motion but ended up wiping the other robot out entirely as well.

A vindictive smirk on his face, he launched himself into the army of robots with no hesitation, tearing them apart with brute force alone.

Mitsuki clenched his fist so tightly that blood dripped from his hands. Help…he had to help…but what could _he _do? Especially when his teammates were so powerful…_what could he do?_ Nothing, there was _nothing, __**he was utterly useless**_—

The giant robot in the back slammed another mallet head into the wall. All of the surfaces broke out into another series of violent tremors, and Tooka cursed as she was pummeled by an attacking robot upon being thrown off balance at the sudden vibration. She threw up a wall of blacksilver to defend herself as she regained her balance, and a second later, expanded it to capture a second robot that had tried to run past her straight towards Mitsuki. She gave him a reassuring glance over her shoulder, but that only sent a new wave of guilt through the terrified boy.

_I…I have to help_—

Another rattling of the floor nearly sent him toppling over, and he caught himself on the wall behind him.

A familiar stimulation spread through his veins, sparking at his fingers—

He threw himself off immediately, panic building in his chest. He glanced down at his hand and then at the wall, and realization dawned on him in the next moment.

_Oh._

He…he could use that, right? He…he'd be careful not to hurt anyone, so just once…to help his teammates…

He glanced behind him again, seeing both of his teammates fight with such vigor and the robot in the back preparing for another disorienting strike, and let desperation take over.

The moment his hand came in contact with the wall, the sparking feeling in his fingertips was back, and the digitized surfaces all crackled with electricity, traveling along the circuits outward and—

_BOOM!_

A single explosion ripped through the floor, exactly where the giant robot was standing, immediately rupturing through the robot's protective plating and delicate wiring from the inside, as no one would have bothered to protect the bottom. A second explosion followed, originating from the giant robot itself as it exploded in on itself.

_It…It worked…It worked! And no one got hurt_—

There was another crackle of electricity along the wall to their left, and the image of Aina appeared on the wall. Mitsuki heard her panicked "**STOP**, you can't—" and flinched, fear filling his veins at the realization that _oh no, he was wrong again_—_**he could never do anything right, could he, he only ever fucked things up and this was just another one of them**_—

_Stop, _he thought desperately, _this is wrong, I need to stop_—

The electrical currents under his fingertips obeyed, and with a loud _pop_, everything went black.

* * *

The lights in the room flickered, as did the monitors. Several of them cut out entirely, and the lights followed shortly after.

Haruko shot to her feet in alarm. "Aina—"

The screens flickered and a large projection of the AI cut in intermittently. "—sorry, I'm tr—g to fix—minutes—"

The fact that Aina's control was being disrupted meant that it wasn't a normal blackout—and in that case, there was only one other reason it could be…

She whirled around to look towards where Hijiri should have been seated next to Ayu, who she could barely hear murmuring, "Oh dear, lots of trauma and anxiety there…not a good mix. It seems likely that he's going to work himself into a panic attack soon…"

_She thought so._

Putting the kid's temperament aside, there was no denying the fact that his Quirk was…troublesome, to say the least. It had been one of the main reasons Haruko had been so concerned—

No. No, she had to stop thinking like that. What's done was done, and besides, Hijiri was right—saving these kids was the right thing to do.

**She couldn't let what happened to **_**him **_**happen to anyone else.**

Now, she just had to keep reminding herself that.

Finally, Aina's visual stabilized and the lights flickered back on. "Okay, I've regained control over the system as a whole, but I need some time to start things back up in the Simulation Joint. Some of the operation functions were blown up or corroded so I need to reroute some commands—_this is a really bad time for this to happen though_—Haruko-san, should we make an official announcement?"

"Yeah…we can't have people getting injured while the floor isn't level. We'll do damage control with the media later, so make an announcement now. The students' safety is our first priority."

"You can still access their locations and their vitals through the watches, right?" Hijiri interjected.

"Yes! I also have retained access to the emergency shut down and reset functions if they become necessary, and Akemi is on immediate standby!"

Haruko nodded. "Good. Then above all else, make sure the students are safe. _All_ of them. We're counting on you, Aina."

"Aye aye! Leave it to me!"

* * *

"It…stopped?" Ayana looked up in confusion. The mist was still coating the air so heavily she couldn't even see her own fingers, but the rumbling of the floor had disappeared incredibly quickly compared to last time. "Was that supposed to happen?"

"I don't think so," Reiden answered in concern. "My dad said that the technology here was impeccable, so…something must be very wrong."

"Well whatever," Doki snarled. "We can move now, so we might as well hurry up and get some more points."

"Oi, we shouldn't get separated when we can't see anything—"

Right then, a crackling noise echoed through the dome.

* * *

"**Attention all exam takers: we are currently undergoing some technical issues. Please remain calm as I restart system operations and we will resume the exam again shortly to ensure everyone's safety. No one is or will be in any danger during any point in this process. Thank you for your patience, and we apologize for the delay.**"

* * *

"Technical difficulties?" Riri wrinkled her nose. "Now?"

"They should at least clear the mist so we can see…" Haru frowned.

"This is exactly what I was worried about," Hotaru muttered to herself.

* * *

"_Technical difficulties_," Sekoia scoffed. "Didn't they say something earlier about state of the art technology or whatnot? We're getting technical difficulties already? That's not helping their credibility now, is it?"

"…that aside, it's really dark in here," Sagi commented from somewhere to her left.

"W_ow_, I couldn't tell. Thanks for that."

"Well _obviously_, where do you think we are?"

_They certainly work well together in situations like this_, Sagi thought to himself in amusement but wisely kept his mouth shut.

* * *

This wasn't what he wanted. This wasn't what he wanted at all.

_Stop. Stop it, stop it, undo it_—

To his relief, he felt another familiar spark under his fingers, and he saw the light rising upward along the wall in a clear pattern of circuit lights. In the next moment, the lights flickered back on.

_There was more,_ he thought, _there was something else, I should fix that too_—

"**STOP IT!**"

Mitsuki flinched so hard he nearly knocked his head against the wall. A buzz sounded, and Aina's projection reappeared on the wall, only slightly staticky this time.

"**STOP TOUCHING IT!**"

"I-I'm sorry!" Mitsuki's hands immediately flew over his head, away from the wall. He backed up but only flinched again when his back hit the wall. _Don't touch, don't touch, don't touch._ He curled up on the floor to prevent the urge to back up again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just…I'm sorry, _I'm sorry_—"

Aina, strangely, calmed down at that. "It—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It's all right, I'm fixing it. But please don't touch anything else while I'm fixing it!"

Then she was gone again.

There was a moment of silence, only filled with his heavy breathing, and then Mitsuki felt his breath hitch. _Someone was standing over him. _

_Who was it what do they want why why why stop go away_—

"Was that _you_?"

_Away away away, stop looking, stop stop stop, just go away_—

_Wait, there was a question. Answer it. …what was it? Answer, he needed to answer it_—_what what was what who what was he asking again_—

"I-I'm sorry, I—"

"That's not what I fucking _asked_—"

_Oh, right, that_—

"_Yes,_ yes, it was, _I'm sorry_—"

"_Why the fuck didn't you do that earlier then?_"

Mitsuki flinched. His back touched the wall again, and upon feeling a shock, jerked upward. _Don't touch it._

A sudden pain blossomed from the back of his head, and he inhaled what felt like his first breath in an eternity. Some semblance of clarity cleared the fog in his mind, and both his ability to hear and feel seemed to return to him at once, as he suddenly became aware of the angry words being yelled at him.

"Are you even _trying_? Do you even want to be here? Did you ever consider the fact that you're bothering _us _with your dead-weighting too? This is an _exam_, holding back isn't going to fucking help you."

Mitsuki swallowed harshly. "I—I'm not—"

"If you're not going to actually _try_, then _**why the fuck are you even in this program at all?**_"

_I don't know._

His voice wasn't working. (_His lungs weren't working either._)

_I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I shouldn't have come here at all. It's too dangerous. I'm not allowed. I can't. I should go back. _

_**I shouldn't be here.**_

"What's your fucking _problem?_" Tooka snarled, shoving Hisoka back harshly so that he stumbled. She took the opportunity to put herself before the two boys, her hand clenched in a tight fist as she glared. "Can't you tell he's terrified? If he doesn't want to fight then leave him alone—it's not _his _fault you're so pathetic that you can't even hold your own against a bunch of ant-sized _robots_."

This jolted Mitsuki out of his self-deprecating thoughts, not wanting to get the other girl involved.

"N-No," He barely managed to get out, reaching out toward her in an attempt to get her to back off, but he was roughly shrugged off and he curled in on himself again, nervous. "Stop…"

Hisoka sneered. "And what's it to _you_? If he doesn't want to fight he shouldn't fucking _be here_—this isn't some wishy-washy freedom trip that just anyone can walk on. If he's not going to fight then he might as well go back and rot in that fucking hellhole because he's not doing anyone any good out _here_."

Mitsuki flinched again at the harsh statement.

"Well, if it were up to _me_, I certainly wouldn't have let _you _out of your cage because it's pretty obvious that you're just going to go right back to what you were doing before you got arrested with that attitude of yours," Tooka retorted.

"_What did you say, you bitch?_" Hisoka crossed the distance between him and Tooka in a flash, his face twisted in a burning fury. He clenched his fist tightly, his anger only flaring more when the girl only returned his look coldly, showing no signs of fear whatsoever. "Say that again and I'll bash your fucking face in, reform be damned. _I dare you._"

_Stop, please, _Mitsuki wanted to cry out, but his voice wasn't working properly. He swallowed harshly, feeling himself shaking uncontrollably, and scooted back as much as he could. His back hit the wall, and he squeezed his eyes shut in mild terror. Were they going to fight? Because of _him?_ No, he didn't want that—_he wasn't worth that_—he wanted to beg them to stop, that it didn't matter, that they should move on, that he would try harder next time and it would all be okay. But his voice still refused to listen to him and he only choked on the dryness of his throat.

"Well, if you _insist._ I said you're a rabid animal who was let out of his cage _way too early_—"

The tension in the air was thickening, and his gold eyes widened when he saw Hisoka starting to lunge forward with an enhanced punch. No. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening—they couldn't be fighting because of him. It was all his fault—_again_—_it was always his fault always always always_—and—and. His thoughts spiralled wildly, and the air around him felt like it was getting thin. This was…not okay. _Nothing about this was okay._ He needed to get out of here. _He needed to get out of here._

He pressed his hand desperately against the wall, feeling the familiar spark of his Quirk flaring to life once again, not thinking twice about it in his panic. _Let me out, let me out of here, please, I don't want to be here anymore, _please let me out—

He could feel the electrical currents realigning under his hands, and the light flickered briefly before the wall finally slid open. Without a single glance backward, his mind clouded with fear and desperation, Mitsuki took off running.

* * *

"**Attention to all staff and students: the problem has been resolved, and we will now resume the exam. An official apology will be issued from the school after the exam has concluded, as we were unable to control the possibility of Quirk interference with our systems and its consequences well enough, but we would like to once again formally apologize to all of you personally once again for the interruption. We will work to ensure that this will not happen again in the future. Thank you, and best of luck to all applicants on the remainder of your exam!**"

* * *

"Quirk interference? I wonder how that happened…" Riri tilted her head. This definitely hadn't been something anyone had expected, but well, these things happened.

Hotaru pursed her lips. "Regardless of what happened, I think this was too careless on their part, especially for their first entrance exam as a school."

"I mean, I'd like to assume they did all they could to prepare for the possibility, but in the end it's really impossible to fully control the effects of Quirk interference, especially with technology. As long as they learn and adjust accordingly in the future, it's fine, right? Everyone deserves a second chance!"

Hotaru looked unimpressed. "You seem like the type who'd give third and fourth and fifth chances as well."

"…weeeeeeell, you're not wrong about that," Riri admitted with a bright laugh, "but that doesn't mean that what I'm saying is wrong either, right?" She paused for a moment before commenting, "Still, they seemed really prepared at the orientation, so…I wonder what kind of Quirk it could've been to interfere with Ai-chan's control _that _badly. Curious, don't you think?"

"That's not important right now," Mikita interrupted. "The exam has resumed, so we should continue as well."

"We've been doing really well so far," Karma said reassuringly. "I think we might even have one of the highest point counts."

"Yeah, so is it really necessary to fight together so much now? We can probably start splitting up at this point, right?" Haru complained. "The shifts happened in ten minute intervals, so that should've been the last one. Meaning we're free to move around as we like now, so couldn't we just get points on our own now? It's more fun that way."

His proclamation was met with silence, with Hotaru and Mikita giving him cold, careless stares, while Karma had that same gentle smile he'd worn since the beginning. But the person he was primarily addressing clearly hadn't heard a single word he'd said, to his irritation.

"Oi, Riri, I'm talking to you—"

"I _knew_ I didn't see that wrong!" Riri burst out all of a sudden, throwing her arms out in an excited flail. She accidentally smacked Hotaru in the face with the movement, to which she breathed out a rushed "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry, are you okay? I didn't hit your nose, did I? Oh thank god, sorry—" When Hotaru waved her off with a slight hint of annoyance, Riri returned to whatever had caught her attention—by pointing to the side aggressively, effectively stabbing her finger straight into Haru's forehead this time. Haru yelped and backed away from her as she released another string of apologies, rubbing at his forehead to relieve the pain.

"Riri-chan, calm down," Karma instructed patiently. "What is it?"

"Sorry, sorry," Riri breathed, clearly embarrassed. "Wow, I'm a mess, sorry, I just—over there, do you see that? Isn't that her?"

"Who?" Haru asked in confusion as they all turned to look where she was pointing.

Riri's finger faltered. "Hnngh, she was just there a few moments ago…did she—oh! There! That shadow! It's moving, see it?!"

"Yes," Mikita frowned, "what about it?"

"Don't you recognize that butterfly ribbon?!"

"_Ribbon?_"

"Yeah, it's her trademark! That has to be her—pro hero Marionna, the Puppet Master of the exam!"

Most of her teammates looked skeptical, and it was Karma who compromised, "Well, we can at least go check it out, right? See if it's really her."

"Fine, that shouldn't hurt," Hotaru agreed.

They began making their way forward, when suddenly—

_BOOM!_

Riri's head shot up at the sound of the explosion, although faint, and immediately spotted the pillar of smoke rising in the distance.

"What was that…? Explosions weren't mentioned in the orientation, right…?"

At this point, there was only one resounding thought in all of their minds:

_What is going on with this exam?_

* * *

What _is going _on _with this _kid_? _

Tooka blocked Hisoka's punch with a shield of blacksilver and then threw another wave between the closing walls by sheer instinct, spreading the metallic liquid across the floor and hardening it in an instant just before the walls slid shut again. Hisoka leaped over her from behind and landed on the walls much like Spiderman, grabbing the two walls in either hand and forcefully wrenching them open again. There was a loud crunching noise as the metal dented under his hands.

There was an unspoken temporary truce between the two of them as they both took off to follow their other teammate down the hallway.

She wasn't sure how she felt about all of this.

On one hand, Mitsuki obviously had some major trauma. She had no idea if it was from his time at the Institute or even before that, but he carried so much skittish energy that she was afraid he'd hurt himself more than he already had if he was left alone for too long. There was no way to fake trauma, especially not to that extent—she would know—so she still struggled to wrap her mind around the fact that a kid like that could commit a crime so great that he'd end up _here_ of all places. Regardless of the why, she could probably already have argued that with his apparently harmless, frightful nature, he may have deserved this second chance more than anyone else currently in this class.

The fact that he bore a resemblance to her late baby brother only further stirred the protective instincts growing within her.

But on the other hand…as loathe as she was to admit it, she could understand where Hisoka was coming from as well. In regards to their team and this exam, Mitsuki was one _hell_ of a wild card. She truthfully hadn't expected him to be able to contribute anything at all to the battle, and just as she'd thought that she was right—he went and overwrote the entirety of the school operations that they had been so confident in.

Depending on how they were being evaluated, having such a wild card in their team was dangerous.

**This was their once in a lifetime chance. They couldn't let anything take it away from them.**

She rounded the corner and released a breath of relief at the sight of the black-haired boy running ahead of them. He was faster than she'd expected, and he kept his left hand pressed lightly along the wall, so she assumed that it was his Quirk at work that caused the white walls of the labyrinth to part and form a direct path for him.

The wall in front of Mitsuki parted once more, but at the sight of a robot standing not too far behind it, they slammed shut again before it could attack. The wall on the right opened next, seemingly clear, but Tooka moved before he could duck into it, not wanting to lose sight of him again. She flung out a carefully formed whip of blacksilver to loop around the boy's arm, causing him to flinch harshly at the sudden contact. He whirled around to face her, but then his eyes widened, and he was leaping back in the next moment-seconds before the wall sparked and exploded. Thankfully, the flames appeared to be mild and rather controlled, though the black smoke tore through the hallway mercilessly. Still, Tooka was relieved that she was able to pull her Quirk back in time, reabsorbing the metallic liquid so that it wasn't exposed to any of the explosion.

Finally catching up with him, Tooka reached out to grab his wrist lightly. But regardless of her gentle touch, Mitsuki still recoiled anyway, a clear fear in his gold eyes. "No, stop, please, I need to get out of here, _let me out of here_—"

"What's his problem?" Hisoka muttered with a scowl.

_What does it _look _like, he's obviously traumatized, _Tooka thought but didn't say.

"Hey it's okay, calm down—"

"_I'm sorry! _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please let me out, I shouldn't be here, let me out, _let me go—_"

It was by sheer protective instinct that Tooka moved to pat his head in hopes of calming him down a little (_the way Obi liked it_ a voice whispered in her head). But every muscle in Mitsuki's body tensed, and she knew that she'd made the wrong move. With unexpected strength, Mitsuki smacked her hand away and wrenched his other wrist from her grasp before shoving her away so hard she fell backwards.

Hisoka snarled, making a grab for the boy before he could escape again, "Stop making this so fucking _difficult_—"

_BOOM._

The moment Mitsuki's fingers brushed the wall again, another explosion tore through the opposite wall, forcing Hisoka to activate his Quirk to defend himself from any flying debris. Thankfully, the flames didn't reach quite so far from the wall to harm any of them, but it was still enough that even Tooka could feel the heat from where she was sitting.

Even then, the fact that he attacked them at all was strange. _I wonder what he's seeing right now… _

She stood up, ready to set off again in another chase—

The walls slammed shut.

"FUCK," Hisoka roared, kicking the wall in fury. "What the _FUCK_, why did we get saddled with that—"

There was a buzz, and the walls slid open again, Aina's projection buzzing to life next to it. "Sorry—"

Tooka didn't bother waiting before taking off down the hallway again. For a moment, she didn't even know if she was going the right way, but she assumed that Aina was leading her to where she needed to go as the labyrinth carved a perfect path for her. It felt like she was losing all sense of direction and she wanted to curse whoever built such a horrid place.

A shout of surprise sounded ahead of her as she rounded another corner just in time to see another student smash his metal arm through a robot and electrocute it from the inside barely two feet away from Mitsuki, who was standing just behind the walls where he'd created a new path for himself. A sparking piece of metal landed by his feet, and then the corridor was filled with flames and smoke once again.

* * *

His sister was about to give herself an aneurysm. He could feel it.

"_Hijiri_."

_Ohhhh dear._

Hijiri had been expecting an impending lecture for a full five minutes, and even then he still wasn't mentally ready. Everyone else in the room was giving him sympathetic looks, and, resigned, he looked towards where Haruko was glaring at him.

_Oh boy, if looks could kill_.

Still, she surprised him with the amount of restraint she carried when she ended up only delivering her spiel that probably would've lasted two minutes verbally in ten seconds with her eyes alone: '_This is a mess. Thanks for inflicting this on me. I hope you're happy. Take responsibility for your child later. Do you just love to watch the world burn. Don't answer that, I know the answer. __**What a mess, what am I going to do now.**_'

But he liked to imagine that there was also a faint glint that also expressed the feeling of '_You did the right thing, bringing that child here._'

Hijiri merely shrugged, raising both arms carelessly in a '_what can you do_' gesture, and Haruko let out her fifth long sigh in thirty seconds before dropping her pen on the table with a loud clatter. "Aina, status report."

"Yes ma'am!" Aina saluted before bringing up an image of the system controls. "I have successfully recovered what I could and also further isolated the two different locations into separate command centers, but I'm not sure how effective that will be. The Simulation Dome's upper level is now operating normally, so there should be no problems there, but Akemi has moved on-scene to patrol, just in case. The situation underground has mostly been contained, but Kannou Mitsuki still remains beyond my control. I can only do damage control, I can't stop him, but they are approaching where Yuu-kun is on standby so I think we can leave that to him!"

"Well, that's not as bad as it could be," Haruko relented. "What about Kannou's conditions?"

"Physically, everything is normal," Aina informed them, pulling up Mitsuki's current vitals. "Mentally…" She gave a side eye glance at Ayu.

"Nothing to blame him for, of course," Ayu answered calmly. "We can't control triggers and panic attacks, no matter how much we wish we could. Especially since his trauma seems to still be very fresh, it'll take lots of time and safety for him to heal from it. Of course, he's not the only one that applies to either…in this class, or outside of it. After all, that's something all of you here understand very clearly, am I right? You're all pro heroes, after all."

His question was greeted with silence, unintentionally answering it. Ayu simply gave them a sad but knowing smile and went right back to what he had been doing.

"I'll keep an eye on Mitsuki-kun," Aina interrupted suddenly, "but I think the one you should be more concerned about right now is Mari."

Haruko let out a loud groan, throwing herself back in her chair. "All of you are trying to send me to an early grave, I swear—" She grumbled, her voice was exasperated but unsurprised. "_Fine, what has that girl done now?_"

"Exactly what she said she'd do—excuse my language, but she's beating the shit out of the students."

* * *

**[END ENTRANCE EXAM II]**

* * *

Updated Quirks: Kishi, Takumi

A/N: So it's been a hot minute…_and that means prepare for a lengthy authors note ahead as usual, because I have a lot to say :3_ I'll put my important notes at the top, so please at least read the parts in bold if you could! That would help a lot, thanks!

Oh also, because this author's note is disastrously long, to **ComplicatedYetSimple** and **BlackProtagonist, **I did address some questions you had in your last reviews at the bottom! I thought it would be helpful for everyone to see the answers too because they were good questions :3 Sorry I didn't get to them sooner!

**The first thing I wanted to address is the issue I have been having with my reviews. There's been a glitch with Fanfiction that the story won't display any reviews posted on any chapter for a few days for whatever reason; please don't worry, I do get the email notifications so I can read them there, but I may come find you if it gets truncated haha. The problem usually fixes itself after a few days thankfully!**

**Now for the important talk: trigger warnings. As you all can tell, Mitsuki, my dear child, is an absolute mess, and I was halfway through writing this arc when I realized that I should probably start thinking about this. While I do hope that all of you came into this story fully prepared, I do want to err on the side of caution because I want everyone to be safe. That being said, this story will probably have a lot of trigger warnings because as you can tell, many of these children have trauma and mental illnesses that I do want to address accordingly. But I will admit that I am actually not very well versed on mental illnesses. I do not have any personal experience, and I have taken a total of one psychology course, which I fluked through and didn't really pay much attention in anyway (it was an AP course in high school). Most of my knowledge comes entirely from secondhand sources**—**in other words, through other fanfictions I have read. Regardless, I will do my best to capture everything to the best of my ability, but I do have to apologize in advance if I get anything wrong or don't realize that something requires a warning. I do want to tag things to be safe, but I also don't want to spoil people, so I have been trying to figure out how to do that. The best solution I could come up with was to put a general warning tag at the beginning of the chapter, and then put more specific tags at the bottom that you can access by pressing the blue arrow at the top of the page to scroll all the way to the bottom immediately to read that first if you need to, but this is something that I really want to take seriously so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. If any of you think that I can forego the warning tags altogether, please tell me that too, because I do see people on FF without them, but I also spend a lot of time on Ao3 where people use them a lot. I want everyone to enjoy this story and to stay safe, and I am still admittedly very confused, so I thank you all for your patience in advance and will appreciate any help that I can get regarding this.**

I'd wanted to have the next chapter fully written as well so I could post it within two weeks, but uh, the last climatic battle section was not cooperating with me and I've had an exam every week for like six or seven weeks now and I'm so stressed ahhh so ye I will post that whenever I get it written then~

Okay! That's all for the important announcements I think, and that was…lengthier than I expected O.O Welp, I guess I should have expected that from me…

So now for my rambling!

Hi everyone I'm so sorry this is so late, I hope this chapter makes up for the wait? Kind of? B-But good news, I wrote the entire arc, so I have the next chapter already ready to be posted! As I said, I'll post it in two weeks to give me some leeway to write some more and to give you guys something to look forward to~ :D - Prewritten author's note makes this a LIE because I did not finish the last section QwQ But I hope it'll be out within two weeks maybe! I'll post it once it gets written, like I said!

We're starting to get into some action packed scenes, so this was pretty difficult to write, but I think I'm really proud of how it came out in the end! This is also kind of a sneak peek as to what my action writing style will look like moving forward, so I hope that's something that all of you enjoy reading~ I don't know, I think it's rather different from the way other people write actions in some ways. Since I'm writing from a very limited POV, the scope of the action is a bit more limited, and I also do this thing where I literally have to visualize every single move in my head before I can write it out, and that's also why my action scenes are very step by step to try and let you picture exactly what is happening as it happens. Which is kind of weird considering I also don't have any martial arts or fighting experience XD But that also creates somewhat of a flow that I find difficult to interrupt for other details at times? It also can make my sentences really long when I'm really just trying to put my visuals into the right words, and it also is why I can get stuck for really long periods of time—Anyway long story short, I really hope you enjoy my writing style in general and that it's not annoying to read lol.

Also, I'm sorry if there are too many staff scenes in there? I wasn't going to put them, but uhh…_they just made transitioning between the two scenes so easy QwQ _Also banter is fun to write because I pride myself in my dialogue XD On that note **I hope you guys love Mari as much as I do lol she is a riot to write. **She also adds disastrously to the alarming amount of cursing I do in this story, but uhh, I hope you all are okay with that? I think it's me projecting because my mom doesn't let me cuss in real life but fanfiction has corrupted me, so~ Plus a lot of these characters are just brash, like Mari, so…yeah~

And final note: I have some reviews I need to address that I didn't last time because I accidentally dropped right into an anti-social block after the chapter was posted!

To **ComplicatedYetSimple:** I don't think I'll ever post a chapter with character information, but I will definitely see if I can put everything onto a public document and link that in my bio for you guys to access! It unfortunately may not be anytime soon because like I said I am kind of stressed atm but I will get to that when I can, promise!

To **BlackProtagonist: **Regarding the power scale, generally speaking, I think it's somewhere around canon-level? There are some very powerful Quirks in the mix, but I'm mostly working with the canon scale, I think. I don't know, it usually kind of just happens in my writing, sorry XD I will say that because I am a very soft-hearted person, this story definitely won't be very _dark_ if anyone is worried about that. It may be a just bit darker than the beginning of canon was because I sometimes can get too invested in murder scenes, but I am someone who really doesn't handle hardcore angst without comfort or character death that well, so you can rest assured on that end. About individual power rankings…that's something you'll have to find out for yourself moving forward :3 And please, this goes to anyone, feel free to PM me at any time! I love to talk, and talking to me about your characters is what helps me feel motivated to write! And honestly, I probably respond to PMs better haha

And lastly, thank you so much to **Starblitz1312,** **Roggi, A.J. Aviary, seasel, Yngvarr Frey, LDOLDAL, Arrow-chan3, TimeTheifRedoer, ComplicatedYetSimple, heartattak, **and **BlackProtagonist **for all the lovely reviews in the past two chapters! You really have no idea how much they help motivate me to keep writing! And as always, special thanks to **heartattak** and **Monty's Cloudy Day** for your constant support, this story would definitely not exist without you two! Another special thanks to **Roggi** for sending me a PM cheering me on upon seeing my progress!

And I will end it there because this is already catastrophically long, curse my long-winded habits XD Honestly, if you read all the way up to here, I'm impressed :3 We only have two more chapters until the end of the arc: part three, and an aftermath/admissions/daily life chapter! Thank you all for your support, thank you for your patience, thank you for reading, and please tell me your thoughts on it!

See you all hopefully soon for part two and the big boss battles!

Chi-chan, signing off~

P.S. Did I actually just write a 1500 word A/N holy shit—


End file.
